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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. shower — rain
  3. object — an aim
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — help
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. object — to protest
  9. field — for sport
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. clip — to cut
  14. deal — to handle
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. field — farmland
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mine — for digging
  21. shower — to wash
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. clip — a video
  24. object — a thing

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