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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. field — farmland
  5. race — humankind
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. face — to confront
  12. field — for sport
  13. chair — a leader
  14. shower — to wash
  15. can — a tin
  16. face — to point toward
  17. can — to be able to
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. branch — a division
  22. can — a tin
  23. shower — rain
  24. face — part of the head

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