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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: mouse · branch · chair · file · scale · dip · degree · rest

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. dip — to sink
  7. scale — size or range
  8. file — a tool
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chair — a leader
  11. rest — what's left
  12. file — a document
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. scale — in music
  17. branch — a division
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rest — what's left
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rest — a break
  24. dip — a sauce

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