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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · degree · club · squash · mouse · season · clip · field

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. season — of the year
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. squash — to crush
  6. season — in sport
  7. club — a group
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. squash — the sport
  10. degree — an amount
  11. field — a subject
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. clip — a video
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for golf
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. field — farmland
  24. content — happy

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