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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chip — for betting
  4. field — a subject
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. fork — in a road
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. field — farmland
  10. clip — a video
  11. lean — thin
  12. chip — to eat
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. prune — to trim
  16. branch — a division
  17. prune — to trim
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. field — for sport
  24. chip — in a computer

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