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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. rash — a series
  3. fine — all right
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fine — high quality
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. degree — from a university
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. key — the most important part
  17. key — in music
  18. degree — an amount

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