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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. current — of water
  4. current — electric
  5. file — a document
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. firm — steady
  8. stem — to come from
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — a division
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a tool
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. current — happening now
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. firm — a company
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bat — the animal
  24. firm — decided

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