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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · branch · press · suit · wind · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — to push
  3. suit — in cards
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tear — from crying
  6. press — a publisher
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wind — moving air
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. tear — from crying
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wind — moving air
  14. suit — to fit
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. tear — to rip
  17. suit — clothes
  18. branch — of a tree

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