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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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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. degree — temperature
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. clip — to cut
  8. branch — a division
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. mine — for digging
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fine — high quality
  15. swing — in golf
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitch — completely
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. drill — army training
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fine — all right

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