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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: scale · hand · game · dip · branch · band · kid · degree

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. kid — child
  4. scale — size or range
  5. scale — in music
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. dip — to sink
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. game — wild animals
  14. band — a music group
  15. degree — from a university
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. branch — a division
  23. hand — help
  24. game — a match

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