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

Word bank: cell · face · wake · mine · fork · degree · racket · branch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. mine — for digging
  4. face — to confront
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cell — a phone
  10. face — to point toward
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fork — in a road

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