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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: wound · bark · clip · squash · mark · degree · branch · perch

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. branch — a division
  3. squash — the sport
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a trace
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. degree — from a university
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — to crush
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. perch — the fish
  22. degree — an amount
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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