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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 120 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  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. field — for sport
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. field — a subject
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. tear — from crying
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bass — low music
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. branch — a division
  19. mark — a trace
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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