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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. lean — to bend
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. lean — thin
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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