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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 · band · degree · hand · tube · pitcher · fall · sharp

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tube — a container
  9. band — a music group
  10. hand — help
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — for paper
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. fall — the season
  22. band — a ring
  23. degree — from a university
  24. tube — the underground

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