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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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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. root — of a word
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. degree — temperature
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — a division
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — the cause
  16. wake — a trail
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. root — of a plant
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — in football
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fork — in a road

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