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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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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  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. current — happening now
  3. current — of water
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cell — a phone
  12. branch — a division
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mine — for digging
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. degree — temperature
  20. deal — to handle
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. current — electric
  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