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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: clip · fork · hand · firm · capital · sharp · pit · degree

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. degree — temperature
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — from a university
  5. capital — a city
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. firm — decided
  9. pit — a hole
  10. fork — in a road
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — money
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. firm — a company
  15. sharp — clever
  16. hand — help
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — in cards
  21. firm — steady
  22. degree — an amount
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. clip — to cut

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