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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 116 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: branch · plane · hide · kid · ground · rule · court · degree

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. ground — a position
  4. court — of law
  5. plane — a tool
  6. rule — a law
  7. kid — to tease
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — the earth
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rule — government
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — from a university
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. ground — crushed
  20. branch — a division
  21. court — of a king
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. degree — temperature
  24. hide — animal skin

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