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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: stem · straw · degree · kid · hide · bulb · drill · branch

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. branch — a division
  3. bulb — for light
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bulb — for light
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. degree — from a university
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. kid — child
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. drill — army training

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