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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — a stone
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. spell — letters
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rule — government
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — an amount
  10. branch — a division
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — a law
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spell — a short time

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