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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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Word bank
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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. fine — all right
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. degree — an amount
  7. current — of water
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. degree — from a university
  10. fine — high quality
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. current — electric
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. perch — the fish
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. branch — a division
  20. degree — temperature
  21. march — music
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. shower — rain
  24. current — happening now

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