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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · degree · field · tear · patient · land · branch · rock

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. field — farmland
  3. land — ground
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — a country
  8. degree — from a university
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — a video
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rock — music
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. field — a subject
  19. clip — to cut
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rock — a stone
  22. field — for sport
  23. land — to come down
  24. branch — a division

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