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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. track — a path
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — magic
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. track — a song
  10. field — for sport
  11. spell — a short time
  12. scale — size or range
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. track — to keep track
  15. tube — the underground
  16. field — farmland
  17. spell — letters
  18. bulb — for light
  19. scale — in music
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tear — to rip
  24. field — a subject

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