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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: field · degree · bulb · tear · cell · bowl · branch · season

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. cell — in biology
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. tear — from crying
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. degree — temperature
  17. branch — a division
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bulb — for light
  21. field — a subject
  22. cell — a phone
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bowl — a dish

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