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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: clip · season · tube · club · plane · field · degree · trunk

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — a container
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. season — of the year
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. field — farmland
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — a video
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. club — a group
  15. field — for sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. field — a subject
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. clip — for paper
  21. plane — a tool
  22. clip — to cut
  23. club — for dancing
  24. plane — an aircraft

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