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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.

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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: bass · cue · clip · degree · spring · patient

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cue — a hint
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — the season
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cue — a signal
  9. clip — a video
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cue — for pool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person

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