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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: mouse · season · root · trunk · degree · last · clip · hand

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. degree — temperature
  3. root — the cause
  4. season — of the year
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — from a university
  9. last — final
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. root — of a plant
  12. clip — a video
  13. season — in sport
  14. root — of a word
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. clip — to cut
  17. hand — help
  18. degree — an amount
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — finally
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. hand — part of the body

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