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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. wax — to grow
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. band — a ring
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. net — in sport
  8. press — newspapers
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. degree — temperature
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. net — for catching
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. press — to push
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. band — a music group
  24. net — after costs

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