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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. branch — a division
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. charge — a price
  6. degree — from a university
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. charge — electricity
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. band — a music group
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. charge — in control
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. net — for catching
  21. plane — a tool
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. band — a ring
  24. degree — temperature

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