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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: saw · root · bass · lash · degree · last · dip · clip

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. clip — to cut
  4. last — final
  5. bass — low music
  6. clip — a video
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — for paper
  15. degree — temperature
  16. root — of a plant
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. degree — an amount
  19. root — of a word
  20. degree — from a university
  21. last — to go on
  22. root — the cause
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. saw — the tool

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