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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: nail · game · squash · mate · branch · ground · degree · wound

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. ground — a position
  6. mate — to breed
  7. game — wild animals
  8. squash — to crush
  9. ground — the earth
  10. mate — a partner
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — the sport
  16. mate — a friend
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. game — a match
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wound — an injury

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