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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: net · degree · clip · toast · staff · hide · track · kid

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. net — after costs
  3. degree — temperature
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. clip — to cut
  6. net — for catching
  7. kid — child
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. track — to keep track
  10. staff — a stick
  11. degree — an amount
  12. staff — employees
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. staff — employees
  16. net — in sport
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. clip — for paper
  19. track — a path
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. clip — a video
  22. track — a song
  23. toast — bread
  24. degree — from a university

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