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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · perch · march · field · charge · branch · mate · degree

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. charge — a price
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — the month
  8. mate — a friend
  9. field — a subject
  10. charge — electricity
  11. field — farmland
  12. branch — a division
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — to breed
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. charge — in control
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. content — the amount
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — music
  23. content — happy
  24. field — for sport

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