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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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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. degree — an amount
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — in sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. press — to push
  13. press — a publisher
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. net — after costs
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. net — for catching
  21. press — newspapers
  22. branch — a division
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. degree — temperature

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