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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. ball — a great time
  5. field — farmland
  6. cell — a phone
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. field — a subject
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. spring — a coil
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. perch — the fish
  14. cell — in biology
  15. spring — the season
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. lean — to bend
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — to get on
  20. lean — thin
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. ball — a dance
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. field — for sport

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