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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — an illness
  3. field — farmland
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. last — finally
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ground — crushed
  13. last — final
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. ground — a position
  17. lie — to recline
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. last — to go on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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