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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: coach · bear · clip · bark · pit · plane · degree · straw

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bear — the animal
  5. plane — a tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bear — the animal
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. degree — an amount
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. clip — a video
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bark — to shout
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. degree — temperature
  23. clip — to cut
  24. straw — a straw man

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