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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: season · march · chair · bear · lean · ground · branch · degree

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. season — of the year
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. degree — an amount
  6. branch — a division
  7. season — in sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bear — the animal
  14. chair — a leader
  15. ground — a position
  16. lean — thin
  17. bear — the animal
  18. ground — crushed
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. march — music
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. lean — to bend

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