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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: bass · spring · clip · season · degree · prune · roll · chip

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. spring — the season
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. degree — an amount
  8. clip — for paper
  9. roll — a cake
  10. prune — to trim
  11. season — in sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. spring — a coil
  14. roll — a list
  15. spring — of water
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bass — the fish
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — to cut
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chip — to eat

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