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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: hand · scale · saw · bulb · branch · court · degree · lean

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. lean — to bend
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. court — of a king
  6. lean — thin
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hand — help
  9. bulb — for light
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bulb — for light
  19. branch — a division
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — for sport
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. court — of law

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