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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: wind · temple · branch · kid · sharp · mine · ball · degree

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. degree — temperature
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. degree — an amount
  8. ball — a dance
  9. degree — from a university
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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