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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. field — a subject
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. shower — to wash
  7. hand — in cards
  8. key — for a lock
  9. field — farmland
  10. hand — help
  11. branch — a division
  12. key — in music
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. shower — rain
  16. field — for sport
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. key — the most important part

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