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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. branch — a division
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — ground
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. last — final
  16. ball — a great time
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. land — a country
  24. field — for sport

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