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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. branch — a division
  3. lean — thin
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mate — a friend
  6. snap — to click
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. game — a match
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — farmland
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mate — a partner
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. game — wild animals
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. field — for sport
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. game — a kind of play

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