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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — of a river
  4. field — for sport
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wound — an injury
  8. content — the amount
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bank — for money
  13. cell — a phone
  14. face — part of the head
  15. swing — in golf
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — happy
  18. face — to confront
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. cell — in biology
  22. branch — a division
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cell — in a prison

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