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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. branch — a division
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — music
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. field — farmland
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — a subject
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — happy
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. field — for sport

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