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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: deal · land · face · firm · degree · bulb · sharp · clip

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. clip — for paper
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. firm — decided
  10. bulb — for light
  11. face — to confront
  12. firm — a company
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. clip — a video
  15. deal — to handle
  16. land — a country
  17. face — part of the head
  18. degree — an amount
  19. face — to point toward
  20. clip — to cut
  21. sharp — clever
  22. degree — from a university
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. firm — steady

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