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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. degree — temperature
  6. chest — of your body
  7. sharp — clever
  8. chest — a box
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rock — music
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cap — of ice
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. row — to paddle
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. branch — a division
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — a lid

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