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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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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: degree · rest · net · safe · branch · pop · file · game

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. degree — an amount
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. pop — soda
  6. degree — from a university
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pop — to visit
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. game — a match
  12. branch — a division
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. rest — a break
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. pop — music
  18. file — a line of people
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. net — for catching
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rest — what's left
  24. degree — temperature

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