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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. staff — employees
  4. object — to protest
  5. scale — in music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. object — an aim
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — a video
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. deal — to handle
  13. object — a thing
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pound — a weight
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. staff — a stick
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. clip — for paper
  22. staff — employees
  23. scale — size or range
  24. deal — an agreement

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