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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. branch — a division
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. last — final
  5. present — a gift
  6. cold — not warm
  7. roll — a list
  8. last — finally
  9. cold — an illness
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — to go on
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. present — there
  17. foot — a measure
  18. roll — a cake
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — to tire
  24. present — the time now

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