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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 116 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. degree — temperature
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. field — farmland
  6. vault — a safe
  7. branch — a division
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. degree — from a university
  10. band — a music group
  11. spring — the season
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. band — a ring
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. field — a subject
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — letters
  22. degree — an amount
  23. field — for sport
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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