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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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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: bank · degree · court · bay · branch · wake · tear · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. degree — from a university
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. tear — to rip
  7. date — the fruit
  8. court — of a king
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bank — for money
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. degree — temperature
  15. court — for sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. court — of law
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. degree — an amount
  24. branch — a division

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