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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. club — a group
  11. degree — an amount
  12. file — a tool
  13. club — for golf
  14. key — for a lock
  15. key — in music
  16. degree — temperature
  17. branch — a division
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. club — for dancing
  20. cell — in biology
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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