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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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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rule — government
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. branch — a division
  8. wound — an injury
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. craft — boats
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — an amount
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. craft — a skill
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rule — a law
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. stem — of a plant

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