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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. field — for sport
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spring — the season
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. present — the time now
  7. field — a subject
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. branch — a division
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. band — a ring
  13. spring — of water
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. present — there
  18. bat — the animal
  19. present — a gift
  20. field — farmland
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. band — a music group
  24. snap — to click

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