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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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. degree — from a university
  4. branch — a division
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. root — of a word
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bear — the animal
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. file — a tool
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. root — the cause
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wax — to grow

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