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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 120 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: degree · cell · branch · trunk · safe · clip · face · band

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cell — a phone
  4. branch — a division
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. face — part of the head
  9. clip — a video
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. degree — temperature
  13. band — a music group
  14. degree — from a university
  15. face — to point toward
  16. band — a ring
  17. clip — to cut
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. clip — for paper
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. face — to confront
  24. trunk — of a tree

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