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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — of water
  4. cap — of ice
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. row — a line
  8. field — farmland
  9. spring — a coil
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. spring — the season
  12. field — for sport
  13. cap — a lid
  14. fall — the season
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cap — a hat
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. row — to paddle
  23. fall — to drop
  24. field — a subject

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