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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. charge — in control
  3. club — for dancing
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. club — a group
  8. firm — steady
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. firm — a company
  11. charge — a price
  12. club — for golf
  13. file — a line of people
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — to handle
  18. firm — decided
  19. file — a tool
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — temperature
  22. charge — electricity
  23. clip — for paper
  24. file — a document

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