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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: branch · rest · ball · board · content · clip · degree · rule

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rest — what's left
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — to cut
  5. board — to get on
  6. board — a committee
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. clip — a video
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rule — government
  14. degree — an amount
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. content — happy
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rule — a law
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. ball — a great time
  21. rest — a break
  22. content — the amount
  23. branch — a division
  24. rest — what's left

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