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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.

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: capital · deal · row · bass · fall · degree · current · clip

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. current — happening now
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. current — electric
  7. clip — a video
  8. fall — to drop
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — money
  11. fall — the season
  12. clip — to cut
  13. deal — to handle
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — low music
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. capital — a city
  19. row — a line
  20. current — of water
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bass — the fish
  23. row — to paddle
  24. clip — for paper

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