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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 120 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: vault · degree · clip · bulb · root · spring · pitch · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — to shout
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — for paper
  9. spring — of water
  10. root — of a word
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. root — of a plant
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — a coil
  19. vault — a safe
  20. spring — the season
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bulb — for light
  23. root — the cause
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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