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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: degree · mate · wound · rush · cap · suit · branch · face

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cap — a lid
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mate — a partner
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. suit — clothes
  13. suit — to fit
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mate — to breed
  16. cap — a hat
  17. branch — a division
  18. suit — in cards
  19. face — to confront
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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