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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 120 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: branch · wind · trunk · rule · degree · pop · fine · cell

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — music
  7. cell — in biology
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. pop — soda
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fine — all right
  16. rule — government
  17. branch — a division
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rule — a law
  21. pop — to visit
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wind — moving air

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