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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: date · race · degree · sharp · present · rock · branch · straw

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. race — humankind
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rock — a stone
  5. rock — music
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. race — a contest
  9. degree — temperature
  10. present — there
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. sharp — clever
  13. branch — a division
  14. race — the arms race
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. date — the fruit
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. present — the time now
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. degree — from a university
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. degree — an amount

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