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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — for paper
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stock — shares
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. degree — temperature
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. land — a country
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — goods
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — music
  18. stem — to come from
  19. pop — soda
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. pop — to visit
  22. land — to come down
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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