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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 120 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: vault · mine · leaves · degree · season · clip · hand · bass

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. hand — help
  7. clip — a video
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. bass — low music
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. degree — an amount
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bass — the fish
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mine — for digging
  21. vault — a safe
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hand — in cards

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