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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 124 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: fork · clip · racket · tear · degree · charge

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

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

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