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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bat — the animal
  4. field — for sport
  5. bore — to tire
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. roll — a cake
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bore — to drill
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. lean — thin
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to bend
  24. roll — a list

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