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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. current — happening now
  4. current — of water
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. degree — from a university
  7. land — ground
  8. current — electric
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. roll — a list
  15. kid — child
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. roll — a cake
  18. branch — a division
  19. degree — an amount
  20. land — to come down
  21. kid — to tease
  22. land — a country
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — temperature

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