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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. degree — an amount
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. roll — a list
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. roll — a cake
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a great time
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. march — the month
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. fork — in a road
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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