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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: wound · bat · mine · mate · branch · club · degree · bulb

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bulb — for light
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — a partner
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. club — for dancing
  18. degree — from a university
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mate — a friend

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