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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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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: band · swing · degree · mate · fine · craft · hand · branch

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. hand — in cards
  3. band — a music group
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. degree — an amount
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. band — a ring
  10. swing — to play on
  11. hand — help
  12. fine — high quality
  13. mate — to breed
  14. fine — all right
  15. swing — music
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — a friend
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. craft — a skill
  22. swing — in golf
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. degree — temperature

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