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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: ground · jam · file · fall · bound · branch · degree · hand

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fall — the season
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ground — the earth
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. file — a document
  8. branch — a division
  9. degree — temperature
  10. fall — to drop
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. hand — help
  13. bound — tied together
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. file — a line of people
  16. hand — in cards
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — obliged
  23. ground — a position
  24. jam — in traffic

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