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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. branch — of a bank
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — a division
  4. spring — of water
  5. bank — of a river
  6. land — ground
  7. drill — the tool
  8. degree — from a university
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bass — low music
  11. bank — for money
  12. land — a country
  13. bass — the fish
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. fall — the season
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bank — for money
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. land — to come down
  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