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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.

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: tear · bay · clip · press · prune · season · game · degree

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — of the year
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — temperature
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. prune — to trim
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. game — a match
  14. season — in sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — wild animals
  17. press — a publisher
  18. clip — a video
  19. degree — from a university
  20. press — to push
  21. tear — to rip
  22. press — newspapers
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. degree — an amount

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