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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. degree — temperature
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stem — to come from
  14. branch — a division
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. degree — from a university
  19. band — a music group
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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