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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. last — to go on
  2. present — there
  3. suit — in cards
  4. degree — from a university
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. last — finally
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. fork — in a road
  12. last — final
  13. suit — clothes
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. degree — temperature
  17. suit — to fit
  18. present — a gift
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. present — the time now
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wind — moving air
  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