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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cue — for pool
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cue — a hint
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. press — to push
  10. degree — temperature
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. ground — the earth
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. press — newspapers
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a city
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. press — a publisher
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cue — a signal
  24. deal — to handle

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