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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: degree · clip · object · bank · squash · bound

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — a video
  3. object — a thing
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bank — for money
  6. clip — to cut
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. object — to protest
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bank — for money
  12. object — an aim
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bank — of a river
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — certain
  18. squash — the sport

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