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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: squash · clip · degree · kick · branch · pitch · shower · band

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. band — a music group
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. degree — temperature
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — from a university
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. branch — a division
  11. kick — in football
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. squash — the sport
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. pitch — completely
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. degree — an amount
  23. squash — to crush
  24. shower — rain

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