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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — for sport
  5. march — the month
  6. branch — a division
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. board — a committee
  9. march — the month
  10. field — a subject
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. wake — a trail
  15. spring — the season
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spring — a coil
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. board — to get on
  22. spring — of water
  23. march — music
  24. field — farmland

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