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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kid · bass · hand · straw · drill · degree · wax · branch

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kid — child
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bass — the fish
  13. drill — army training
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. drill — a practice
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bass — low music
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — in cards
  23. branch — a division
  24. drill — the tool

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