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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: sharp · row · content · clip · degree · season · rest · mark

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. degree — temperature
  3. clip — to cut
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. rest — a break
  11. content — happy
  12. season — in sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. content — the amount
  15. season — of the year
  16. mark — a grade
  17. sharp — clever
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — an amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mark — a trace

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