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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hide · branch · foot · degree · row · capital · spring · clip

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. spring — of water
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. degree — an amount
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. row — to paddle
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. clip — for paper
  16. row — a line
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — a city
  19. degree — temperature
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. foot — a measure
  24. capital — money

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