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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: club · branch · face · degree · lie · net · kid · rash

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. net — after costs
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. kid — child
  5. lie — to recline
  6. degree — an amount
  7. net — in sport
  8. club — a group
  9. kid — to tease
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. degree — from a university
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. net — for catching
  17. club — for golf
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. face — to point toward
  21. club — for dancing
  22. degree — temperature
  23. branch — a division
  24. rash — a series

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