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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · branch · key · degree · mine · season · land · cell

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. season — in sport
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — of the year
  5. branch — a division
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cell — in biology
  11. land — a country
  12. chest — a box
  13. cell — a phone
  14. land — ground
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. degree — an amount
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. key — for a lock
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. degree — from a university
  21. mine — for digging
  22. land — to come down
  23. degree — temperature
  24. key — the most important part

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