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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — farmland
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. branch — a division
  8. mate — a partner
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stock — goods
  12. field — a subject
  13. mate — to breed
  14. wax — to grow
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — for sport
  22. stock — shares
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wound — an injury

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