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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. key — the most important part
  3. rule — a law
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — low music
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. snap — to click
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. clip — a video
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. rule — government
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. key — for a lock
  18. clip — to cut
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. key — in music

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