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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. saw — the tool
  4. land — ground
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. sharp — clever
  8. clip — for paper
  9. saw — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. drill — army training
  13. land — to come down
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — a country
  19. fine — high quality
  20. clip — a video
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. drill — the tool

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