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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. hand — in cards
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. stem — to come from
  6. mate — a friend
  7. hand — help
  8. chest — a box
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pitch — completely
  15. chest — of your body
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. mate — a partner
  22. branch — a division
  23. chest — of your body
  24. coach — a trainer

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