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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: pitch · branch · degree · band · row · rule · wake · rock

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. branch — a division
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. band — a music group
  12. wake — a trail
  13. band — a ring
  14. rock — a stone
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. rule — a law
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rule — government
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. row — a line

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