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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: calf · race · sharp · branch · face · bulb · field · degree

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. sharp — clever
  3. degree — an amount
  4. race — a contest
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. face — to point toward
  10. field — a subject
  11. race — humankind
  12. face — to confront
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. face — part of the head
  15. race — the arms race
  16. branch — a division
  17. field — farmland
  18. bulb — for light
  19. degree — temperature
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bulb — for light
  23. field — for sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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