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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 116 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. degree — an amount
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. drill — army training
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tube — the underground
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tube — a container

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