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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pitch — completely
  4. cold — not warm
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. field — a subject
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a hat
  10. lie — to recline
  11. branch — a division
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. field — for sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — an illness
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cap — a lid
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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