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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: saw · spell · fork · squash · branch · sharp · degree · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. season — in sport
  4. branch — a division
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. spell — letters
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fork — in a road
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. saw — the tool
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spell — a short time
  18. squash — to crush
  19. saw — the tool
  20. degree — temperature
  21. season — of the year
  22. spell — magic
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. degree — from a university

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