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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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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: fork · degree · hand · fall · straw · rest · branch · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fall — the season
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fall — to drop
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. rest — what's left
  10. degree — temperature
  11. swing — music
  12. branch — a division
  13. degree — an amount
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. swing — in golf
  19. rest — a break
  20. hand — in cards
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. hand — help
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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