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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. ground — crushed
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. ground — a position
  6. wind — moving air
  7. charge — in control
  8. deal — to handle
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. band — a ring
  13. charge — electricity
  14. ground — the earth
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. clip — a video
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. degree — temperature
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. degree — an amount
  21. charge — a price
  22. clip — for paper
  23. band — a music group
  24. wind — moving air

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