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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wind — moving air
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. march — music
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — the month
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. field — farmland
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wind — moving air
  15. branch — a division
  16. march — the month
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. ground — a position
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. field — for sport

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