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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: press · season · cold · branch · stick · rash · shower · degree

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. branch — a division
  4. season — in sport
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rash — a series
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. press — to push
  12. shower — rain
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. degree — from a university
  20. press — newspapers
  21. season — of the year
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — not warm

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