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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. 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. swing — to play on
  2. file — a line of people
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. swing — in golf
  5. file — a document
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. field — farmland
  10. craft — a skill
  11. branch — a division
  12. drill — a practice
  13. swing — music
  14. file — a tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. court — for sport
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — of a king
  19. race — humankind
  20. court — of law
  21. craft — boats
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — the tool
  24. 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