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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. net — in sport
  3. season — in sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. net — for catching
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. shower — rain
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — music
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. season — of the year
  17. branch — a division
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. net — after costs
  24. branch — of a bank

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