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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 116 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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. court — of law
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. land — to come down
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. land — a country
  14. court — for sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. pitch — completely
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — of a king
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. land — ground

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