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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: bark · lie · branch · drill · hide · race · arm · degree

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. race — a contest
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bark — to shout
  5. degree — temperature
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. drill — army training
  9. race — humankind
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. race — the arms race
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. degree — an amount
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. lie — to recline

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