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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: net · drill · branch · degree · rush · trunk · clip · bank

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — of a river
  6. net — for catching
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. clip — for paper
  14. net — in sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bank — for money
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. drill — a practice
  21. rush — hurry
  22. net — after costs
  23. branch — a division
  24. trunk — of a tree

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