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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. branch — a division
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. march — music
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. march — the month
  9. rash — a series
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. tear — from crying
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. kick — in football
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rash — hasty
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. tear — from crying
  21. march — the month
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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