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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. degree — from a university
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. season — in sport
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. kid — to tease
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. season — of the year
  23. degree — an amount
  24. deal — to handle

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