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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 · track · deal · straw · board · degree · fan · net

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. net — for catching
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. track — a path
  5. board — to get on
  6. degree — temperature
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. track — a song
  11. deal — to handle
  12. net — after costs
  13. board — a committee
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. degree — from a university
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. net — in sport
  22. clip — a video
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. track — to keep track

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