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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 · mug · degree · root · pass · chest · pop · fork

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pop — music
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pass — a permit
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mug — a face
  10. mug — a cup
  11. chest — a box
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. degree — temperature
  15. root — of a word
  16. pop — soda
  17. pop — to visit
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. root — the cause
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mug — to rob
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. degree — from a university

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