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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. clip — a video
  3. deal — to handle
  4. field — a subject
  5. club — for golf
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — electricity
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. clip — to cut
  16. club — a group
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. spring — of water
  19. club — for dancing
  20. field — farmland
  21. charge — a price
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — from a university

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