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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. track — a song
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. season — of the year
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. spring — a coil
  10. season — in sport
  11. pitch — completely
  12. kid — to tease
  13. present — there
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. spring — of water
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. spring — the season
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — a gift
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a path
  22. chest — a box
  23. kid — child
  24. branch — a division

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