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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.

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: racket · branch · scale · content · net · degree · wound · perch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — an injury
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. scale — in music
  5. net — in sport
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. degree — temperature
  8. scale — size or range
  9. net — for catching
  10. branch — a division
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. net — after costs
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. degree — from a university
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. degree — an amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wound — an injury
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. content — the amount

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