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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · clip · degree · craft · race · branch

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rule — a law
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. rule — government
  9. race — the arms race
  10. craft — a skill
  11. clip — for paper
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. clip — a video
  14. branch — a division
  15. race — humankind
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. degree — an amount
  18. craft — a handicraft

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