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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: pitch · clip · degree · lash · cell · vault

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. vault — a safe
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. pitch — completely
  18. clip — a video

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