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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: ground · court · branch · file · rock · cell · degree · deal

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cell — a phone
  3. deal — to handle
  4. file — a document
  5. court — of a king
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rock — music
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. degree — from a university
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. cell — in biology
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. degree — temperature
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. rock — a stone
  22. branch — a division
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ground — the earth

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