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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: land · kick · suit · clip · nail · degree · wind · branch

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. suit — to fit
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. suit — clothes
  8. kick — in football
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. branch — a division
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. suit — in cards
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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