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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. club — for golf
  7. cell — a phone
  8. branch — a division
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. club — a group
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. spring — the season
  15. rock — a stone
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. cell — in biology
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. rock — music
  21. field — for sport
  22. dip — to sink
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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