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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: branch · field · toast · squash · degree · shower · arm · tear

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. squash — to crush
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. field — a subject
  9. tear — to rip
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. branch — a division
  12. field — farmland
  13. tear — from crying
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. toast — bread
  20. field — for sport
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. arm — a part of something

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