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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.

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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: club · degree · staff · wake · bound · clip · craft · bulb

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. staff — a stick
  3. clip — to cut
  4. craft — boats
  5. degree — an amount
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wake — a trail
  11. club — for dancing
  12. bulb — for light
  13. craft — a skill
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — for paper
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bound — tied together
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — a video
  22. staff — employees
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bulb — for light

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