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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. pound — a weight
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — to breed
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — from a university
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bank — for money
  11. mate — a partner
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. bank — for money
  17. branch — a division
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. bank — of a river
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — for dogs

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