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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. file — a tool
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. degree — an amount
  7. file — a document
  8. spring — a coil
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. kick — in football
  11. file — a line of people
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. branch — a division
  19. degree — temperature
  20. spring — the season
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. spring — of water
  24. kick — a thrill

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