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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. field — for sport
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. field — farmland
  8. branch — a division
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bass — low music
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. fall — the season
  16. field — a subject
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. saw — the tool
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bat — the animal
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bat — for baseball

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