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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cue — a hint
  6. rash — a series
  7. degree — temperature
  8. sharp — clever
  9. scale — in music
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cue — for pool
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. degree — an amount

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