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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. branch — a division
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fall — the season
  11. season — of the year
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. perch — the fish
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. content — the amount
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — a position
  19. degree — temperature
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. content — happy
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. ground — crushed
  24. season — in sport

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