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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. lean — thin
  10. clip — to cut
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — to wash
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — army training
  16. key — in music
  17. key — the most important part
  18. degree — an amount
  19. drill — a practice
  20. court — of law
  21. key — for a lock
  22. court — of a king
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. lean — to bend

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