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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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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: press · cap · sharp · branch · race · field · bat · degree

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — from a university
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — temperature
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — to push
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cap — of ice
  17. branch — a division
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cap — a lid
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. field — farmland

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