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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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Word bank
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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: tear · drill · branch · plane · board · clip · spring · degree

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. board — to get on
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — from a university
  7. drill — the tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. clip — a video
  12. drill — a practice
  13. plane — a tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — temperature
  16. branch — a division
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — of water
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. board — a committee
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tear — to rip
  24. board — a flat piece

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