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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cold — not warm
  5. board — to get on
  6. swing — music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. board — a committee
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. swing — to play on
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. press — to push
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — from a university
  18. press — a publisher
  19. branch — a division
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — newspapers

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