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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.

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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: charge · degree · rock · branch · cold · band · chair · pound

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. charge — in control
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. degree — from a university
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. charge — electricity
  9. charge — a price
  10. chair — a leader
  11. branch — a division
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. pound — a weight
  15. rock — a stone
  16. band — a music group
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rock — music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. rock — to move gently

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