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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. branch — a division
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. vault — a safe
  5. wound — an injury
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chest — a box
  12. court — for sport
  13. chest — of your body
  14. season — of the year
  15. court — of law
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. court — of a king
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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