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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. stem — to come from
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. chip — to eat
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — to tire
  8. season — in sport
  9. chip — for betting
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. charge — electricity
  12. season — of the year
  13. charge — in control
  14. cold — not warm
  15. charge — a price
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. field — farmland

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