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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 124 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. tube — the underground
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. date — the fruit
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. bat — the animal
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lean — to bend
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. branch — a division
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. lean — thin
  22. degree — from a university
  23. tube — a container
  24. date — on the calendar

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