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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. 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 — in music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. mate — to breed
  5. clip — to cut
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rule — a law
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — for paper
  10. key — the most important part
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rule — government
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — boats
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. can — to be able to
  17. degree — temperature
  18. can — a tin
  19. fork — in a road
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. key — for a lock
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. 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