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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · deal · file · wax · degree · cell · mug · march

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. march — the month
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. deal — to handle
  11. clip — to cut
  12. march — the month
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mug — to rob
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a document
  21. march — music
  22. mug — a face
  23. mug — a cup
  24. deal — a big deal

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