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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chair — a leader
  5. field — farmland
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. stand — to bear
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. branch — a division
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. squash — to crush
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wind — moving air
  17. field — a subject
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. field — for sport
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. stand — for spectators

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