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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. mine — for digging
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a line of people
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. rest — what's left
  10. plane — a tool
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. branch — a division
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. degree — an amount
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. file — a tool
  20. hand — help
  21. rest — what's left
  22. file — a document
  23. dip — to sink
  24. rest — a break

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