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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. last — finally
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. degree — an amount
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. craft — boats
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — not warm
  15. object — to protest
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ball — a great time
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. object — a thing
  20. craft — a skill
  21. object — an aim
  22. degree — temperature
  23. branch — a division
  24. ball — a dance

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