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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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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. field — a subject
  6. rash — a series
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. court — of law
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. field — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — in sport
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. rash — hasty
  20. branch — a division
  21. court — for sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — with your hand

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