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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: season · perch · band · stand · degree · stick · clip · lean

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to bend
  5. degree — from a university
  6. band — a music group
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. stand — to bear
  19. clip — a video
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. degree — temperature
  22. lean — thin
  23. degree — an amount
  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