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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: march · degree · perch · nail · mouse · wind · branch · race

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. race — the arms race
  7. degree — an amount
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. branch — a division
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. perch — the fish
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — a contest
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. race — humankind
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. branch — of a tree

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