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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: plane · rule · degree · wound · branch · row · mine · fork

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. branch — a division
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. rule — a law
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rule — government
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. plane — a tool
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — for digging
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. degree — an amount
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. row — a line
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. fork — in a road
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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