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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. branch — a division
  2. last — to go on
  3. shower — rain
  4. last — final
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. craft — boats
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. scale — in music
  10. field — for sport
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. last — finally
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — not warm
  15. craft — a skill
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. field — farmland
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cold — an illness
  23. shower — to wash
  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