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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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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: shower · board · bulb · wound · fan · degree · prune · branch

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wound — an injury
  4. branch — a division
  5. board — to get on
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. bulb — for light
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. degree — an amount
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — temperature
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. bulb — for light
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. board — a committee

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