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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: band · field · branch · degree · rash · season · hand · fan

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. degree — from a university
  4. season — in sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. rash — a series
  9. band — a music group
  10. hand — in cards
  11. degree — temperature
  12. band — a ring
  13. rash — hasty
  14. hand — help
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — of the year
  18. degree — an amount
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. field — for sport
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — farmland

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