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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 · branch · bat · lash · content · degree · leaves · bark

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bark — to shout
  4. content — the amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. wind — moving air
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. content — happy
  13. degree — temperature
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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