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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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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: degree · nail · bowl · patient · ground · clip · branch · prune

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. degree — from a university
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. branch — a division
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. degree — temperature
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. clip — a video
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ground — the earth
  20. prune — to trim
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. patient — a sick person

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