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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: squash · wave · deal · straw · sharp · cell · degree · branch

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — from a university
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. cell — in biology
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wave — of the sea

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