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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: race · swing · land · trunk · net · rush · branch · degree

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. net — in sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. net — after costs
  7. swing — to play on
  8. race — humankind
  9. swing — in golf
  10. degree — temperature
  11. branch — a division
  12. degree — an amount
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. net — for catching
  15. rush — hurry
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. race — a contest
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. swing — music

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