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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  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. branch — of a bank
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. shower — rain
  9. degree — an amount
  10. branch — a division
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. craft — boats
  15. degree — from a university
  16. clip — to cut
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. shower — to wash
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. craft — a skill
  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