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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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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: spring · face · sharp · hand · game · branch · degree · stand

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. game — a match
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. spring — the season
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to confront
  11. spring — of water
  12. hand — in cards
  13. sharp — clever
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. hand — help
  17. face — to point toward
  18. degree — from a university
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. branch — a division
  22. game — wild animals
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. spring — a coil

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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