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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rash — a series
  3. field — a subject
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bore — to tire
  8. land — to come down
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bore — to drill
  11. branch — a division
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. squash — the sport
  14. land — a country
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. land — ground
  17. field — farmland
  18. branch — of a tree

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