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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 120 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 · degree · squash · clip · coach · rash · ball · deal

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ball — a great time
  5. deal — to handle
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. clip — for paper
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. ball — a dance
  10. squash — the sport
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. clip — to cut
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. degree — from a university
  18. branch — a division
  19. squash — to crush
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. degree — temperature

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