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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: bass · branch · hide · date · bound · game · kid · degree

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bound — tied together
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — an amount
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bass — the fish
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — certain
  12. date — the fruit
  13. bass — low music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. game — a match
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bound — obliged
  21. degree — from a university
  22. kid — to tease
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. branch — a division

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