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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: key · lash · track · prune · game · clip · shower · degree

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. clip — a video
  3. prune — to trim
  4. key — in music
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. clip — to cut
  7. track — a path
  8. degree — from a university
  9. key — for a lock
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. prune — to trim
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. shower — to wash
  17. key — the most important part
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. degree — an amount
  20. shower — rain
  21. degree — temperature
  22. game — a match
  23. clip — for paper
  24. game — wild animals

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