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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
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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 · chair · branch · patient · perch · pop · land · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. pop — to visit
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. branch — a division
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pop — music
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. season — of the year
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. season — in sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — from a university
  16. land — a country
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pop — soda
  21. degree — an amount
  22. perch — the fish
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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