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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: branch · bay · bat · press · board · degree · prune · cold

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. degree — an amount
  7. prune — to trim
  8. board — to get on
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. bat — the animal
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. press — to push
  16. board — a committee
  17. branch — a division
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. press — a publisher
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — temperature
  24. press — newspapers

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