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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. branch — a division
  8. board — to get on
  9. lean — thin
  10. craft — a skill
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — from a university
  13. craft — boats
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. lean — to bend
  17. game — wild animals
  18. current — happening now
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. board — a committee
  21. current — electric
  22. cold — an illness
  23. current — of water
  24. game — a match

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