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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: track · race · degree · swing · kid · fine · branch · field

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. field — farmland
  3. fine — high quality
  4. degree — temperature
  5. race — humankind
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. track — a song
  9. swing — to play on
  10. race — a contest
  11. degree — an amount
  12. track — a path
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — to keep track
  16. field — a subject
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. race — the arms race
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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