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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. field — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. plane — a tool
  10. chest — a box
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. charge — electricity
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. branch — a division
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. charge — a price
  19. chest — of your body
  20. charge — in control
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. branch — of a bank

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