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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: swing · wave · branch · face · clip · degree · squash · stock

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. branch — a division
  3. swing — to play on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. face — to point toward
  7. clip — a video
  8. stock — goods
  9. face — to confront
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. clip — to cut
  14. squash — to crush
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stock — shares
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. squash — the sport
  23. swing — music
  24. face — part of the head

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