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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — for sport
  3. march — the month
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. plane — a tool
  7. march — the month
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — a subject
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bore — to tire
  17. march — music
  18. spring — of water
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bore — to drill

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