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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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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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 bank
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. file — a tool
  5. branch — a division
  6. rock — music
  7. file — a document
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. fine — all right
  10. degree — an amount
  11. row — to paddle
  12. degree — from a university
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. degree — temperature
  15. fine — high quality
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. row — a line
  20. file — a line of people
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rock — a stone
  24. branch — of a tree

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