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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. roll — a cake
  3. saw — the tool
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. roll — a list
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — for golf
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. club — a group
  15. degree — temperature
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. clip — for paper

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