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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · tear · clip · squash · charge · fork

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — a price
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. charge — in control
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — to rip
  11. degree — temperature
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. clip — a video
  15. tear — from crying
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. squash — to crush

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