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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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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: bulb · deal · kid · season · dip · degree · clip · pitch

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. clip — a video
  5. deal — to handle
  6. degree — temperature
  7. kid — to tease
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. kid — child
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. clip — to cut
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. season — in sport
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bulb — for light
  20. dip — to sink
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bulb — for light
  24. deal — a big deal

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