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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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. field — for sport
  4. content — happy
  5. track — to keep track
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. content — the amount
  8. spring — the season
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. can — to be able to
  12. spring — of water
  13. track — a path
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. branch — a division
  19. spring — a coil
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. field — farmland
  24. track — a song

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