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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. net — for catching
  3. chest — a box
  4. spring — a coil
  5. ground — a position
  6. branch — a division
  7. field — for sport
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. net — in sport
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — farmland
  14. ground — crushed
  15. chest — of your body
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. field — a subject
  18. spring — of water
  19. sharp — clever
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. net — after costs
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spring — the season
  24. ruler — for measuring

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