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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. court — of a king
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fine — all right
  8. clip — a video
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. charge — a price
  11. court — for sport
  12. charge — in control
  13. court — of law
  14. craft — a skill
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fine — high quality
  17. craft — boats
  18. charge — electricity

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