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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 · present · spring · bowl · board · field · bass · degree

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. clip — to cut
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. clip — for paper
  5. present — a gift
  6. bass — low music
  7. spring — the season
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. present — there
  11. board — to get on
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. clip — a video
  18. degree — from a university
  19. field — farmland
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. present — the time now
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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