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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · swing · object · degree · clip · tube · wind · cap

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. degree — an amount
  3. object — an aim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. clip — for paper
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. object — a thing
  10. clip — to cut
  11. degree — from a university
  12. object — to protest
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. swing — to play on
  18. pound — a weight
  19. clip — a video
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cap — a lid
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. swing — music
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com