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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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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bass — the fish
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. pop — soda
  8. rock — a stone
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pop — to visit
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pop — music
  14. bass — low music
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. cold — an illness
  17. charge — electricity
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bore — to tire
  20. charge — in control
  21. charge — a price
  22. bore — to drill
  23. rock — music
  24. degree — an amount

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