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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. charge — a price
  3. key — in music
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — a practice
  9. charge — in control
  10. clip — for paper
  11. drill — army training
  12. game — wild animals
  13. degree — temperature
  14. drill — the tool
  15. degree — from a university
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. key — for a lock
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — in cards
  20. key — the most important part
  21. charge — electricity
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. clip — to cut
  24. game — a kind of play

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