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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 116 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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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 · band · rest · lie · row · branch · degree · bulb

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  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. band — a ring
  2. lie — to recline
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. band — a music group
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. row — a line
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rest — a break
  20. branch — a division
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  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