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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lean — thin
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. pound — a weight
  5. season — of the year
  6. lean — to bend
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. degree — temperature
  10. squash — the sport
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. squash — to crush
  17. last — final
  18. branch — a division
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. stem — to come from
  22. season — in sport
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. branch — of a bank

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