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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: tube · last · spring · hand · branch · ground · degree · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. branch — a division
  3. degree — temperature
  4. hand — help
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. ground — crushed
  7. hand — in cards
  8. ground — a position
  9. degree — an amount
  10. ground — the earth
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. spring — a coil
  14. tube — a container
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. last — to go on
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spring — the season
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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