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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mate — a partner
  8. scale — in music
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — to breed
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. deal — to handle
  19. chair — a leader
  20. scale — size or range
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. nail — on a finger

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