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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 116 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. degree — from a university
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. rash — a series
  11. march — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. rash — hasty
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — a video
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. clip — to cut
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a dance
  24. deal — to handle

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