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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: straw · clip · capital · game · mouse · branch · degree · leaves

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. capital — a city
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. game — wild animals
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — money
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. clip — a video
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. degree — temperature
  24. clip — for paper

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