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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: bass · shower · bear · branch · ground · squash · degree · trunk

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  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. bear — the animal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. branch — a division
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. ground — crushed
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. squash — the sport
  12. degree — an amount
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bass — the fish
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. degree — from a university
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bass — low music
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bear — to put up with
  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