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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.

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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: branch · degree · chair · tear · stick · fork · rule · ground

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. ground — the earth
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fork — in a road
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. degree — from a university
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. chair — a leader
  13. branch — a division
  14. rule — government
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — from crying
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. ground — a position
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. tear — to rip

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