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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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468
Word bank
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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. kid — child
  4. mate — a friend
  5. degree — an amount
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. kid — to tease
  10. content — happy
  11. wind — moving air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mate — a partner
  14. degree — temperature
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. content — the amount
  18. mate — to breed
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. degree — from a university
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — music
  24. wind — moving air

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