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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: bay · clip · game · degree · drill · pitch · bowl · leaves

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. clip — a video
  4. game — a match
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. clip — for paper
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. drill — a practice
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. drill — army training
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. drill — the tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. pitch — completely

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