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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: snap · degree · club · tube · perch · suit · clip · hand

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. clip — for paper
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. club — for golf
  6. suit — in cards
  7. clip — a video
  8. suit — to fit
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — from a university
  12. club — a group
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. perch — the fish
  16. snap — to click
  17. hand — in cards
  18. suit — clothes
  19. club — for dancing
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — help
  22. degree — temperature
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. clip — to cut

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