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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.

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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.

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: degree · face · fine · march · cell · branch · pop · cold

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  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. fine — all right
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cell — in biology
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. pop — soda
  7. face — to point toward
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cell — a phone
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. march — the month
  18. fine — high quality
  19. cold — not warm
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — part of the head
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  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