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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. row — to paddle
  3. rash — a series
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. court — for sport
  9. row — a line
  10. court — of a king
  11. degree — from a university
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — a division
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — of law
  21. kid — child
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. march — music
  24. calf — of the leg

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