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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. row — a line
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. row — to paddle
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. band — a music group
  8. prune — to trim
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. staff — employees
  12. degree — an amount
  13. scale — in music
  14. prune — to trim
  15. branch — a division
  16. band — a ring
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. staff — employees
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. scale — size or range
  23. degree — temperature
  24. band — a rubber band

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