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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cell — a phone
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. face — to confront
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cell — in biology
  12. field — farmland
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. face — to point toward
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — for betting
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. band — a music group
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. band — a ring
  24. branch — a division

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