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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rule — government
  5. cap — a hat
  6. club — a group
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — of ice
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. fork — in a road
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — a lid
  14. rule — a law
  15. degree — from a university
  16. perch — the fish
  17. club — for golf
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. race — humankind

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