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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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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: hand · wave · racket · degree · stem · trunk · branch · tear

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. degree — from a university
  4. branch — a division
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. degree — temperature
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. tear — from crying
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — an amount
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. tear — to rip
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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