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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. ground — the earth
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — to trim
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. press — a publisher
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — music
  14. prune — to trim
  15. press — to push
  16. march — the month
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. march — the month
  19. ground — a position
  20. scale — size or range
  21. branch — a division
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ground — crushed
  24. press — newspapers

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