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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 116 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: mug · field · cold · file · cue · branch · rule · degree

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. field — a subject
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — government
  9. mug — a cup
  10. field — farmland
  11. cue — a hint
  12. file — a tool
  13. mug — a face
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a document
  16. field — for sport
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mug — to rob
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cue — a signal
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cue — for pool
  24. file — a line of people

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