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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 120 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: bark · mouse · degree · rash · march · branch · staff · wind

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. staff — employees
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — hasty
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. march — the month
  14. staff — a stick
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bark — to shout
  17. rash — a series
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. staff — employees
  20. branch — a division
  21. march — the month
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. march — music
  24. degree — an amount

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