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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 · hand · staff · track · bay · degree · content · rash

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. clip — a video
  2. hand — in cards
  3. staff — employees
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. staff — a stick
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. content — the amount
  14. staff — employees
  15. content — happy
  16. track — a song
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. hand — help
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. track — a path
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — hasty
  23. content — videos and posts
  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