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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.

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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 · trunk · game · bowl · straw · calf · clip · pitch

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. game — a match
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. degree — an amount
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — from a university
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. degree — temperature
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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