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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: board · season · degree · rule · game · scale · band · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — of the year
  5. band — a ring
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. season — in sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. band — a music group
  13. rule — a law
  14. scale — in music
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — to get on
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. scale — size or range
  19. board — a committee
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. rule — government
  24. clip — a video

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