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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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. pass — a permit
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. chip — for betting
  11. capital — a city
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. branch — a division
  17. clip — to cut
  18. tear — from crying
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chip — to eat
  24. capital — money

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