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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: mug · straw · band · bass · cold · branch · perch · degree

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mug — to rob
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bass — low music
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. degree — an amount
  9. band — a ring
  10. mug — a cup
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cold — an illness
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. mug — a face
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — not warm
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — the instrument

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