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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. club — for dancing
  4. mine — for digging
  5. degree — from a university
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. key — for a lock
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. degree — an amount
  15. key — in music
  16. degree — temperature
  17. clip — a video
  18. key — the most important part
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. clip — to cut
  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