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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: branch · file · hide · degree · rest · spring · arm · cold

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. degree — temperature
  4. spring — a coil
  5. file — a tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a document
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rest — what's left
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. spring — the season
  17. cold — not warm
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. rest — a break
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rest — what's left
  23. degree — from a university
  24. branch — of a bank

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