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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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468
Word bank
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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. scale — in music
  3. root — of a plant
  4. can — a tin
  5. scale — size or range
  6. branch — a division
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pass — a permit
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. can — a tin
  13. root — of a word
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — an illness
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. root — the cause
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — to succeed

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