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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a line of people
  5. clip — a video
  6. squash — the sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — an amount
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. file — a tool
  14. branch — a division
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — from a university
  18. file — a document
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. tear — to rip

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