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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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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: branch · spring · ball · degree · content · root · bass · firm

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. firm — steady
  4. degree — an amount
  5. root — the cause
  6. spring — a coil
  7. content — the amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. root — of a word
  10. ball — a dance
  11. degree — from a university
  12. root — of a plant
  13. firm — decided
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the fish
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spring — of water
  20. branch — a division
  21. firm — a company
  22. ball — a great time
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. spring — the season

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