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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: cold · nail · game · degree · branch · band · staff · safe

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. staff — employees
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. staff — a stick
  9. degree — temperature
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. branch — a division
  12. staff — employees
  13. band — a music group
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. band — a ring

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