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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: club · hand · branch · clip · degree · lash · rash · bore

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. club — for golf
  3. hand — in cards
  4. degree — temperature
  5. club — a group
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. hand — help
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — a division
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rash — a series
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — to tire
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. degree — from a university
  20. club — for dancing
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. rash — hasty
  24. degree — an amount

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