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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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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: tear · rest · mark · degree · cell · branch · saw · game

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. cell — a phone
  5. degree — from a university
  6. saw — the tool
  7. degree — temperature
  8. game — a match
  9. branch — a division
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mark — a trace
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — an amount
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. mark — a grade
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rest — a break
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rest — what's left

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