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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. charge — a price
  3. charge — electricity
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — from crying
  7. scale — in music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. squash — to crush
  10. fork — in a road
  11. scale — size or range
  12. capital — a city
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. squash — the sport
  21. clip — to cut
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — money
  24. charge — in control

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