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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. chest — of your body
  3. branch — a division
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — a practice
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. swing — in golf
  8. field — for sport
  9. date — the fruit
  10. swing — music
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chest — a box
  18. drill — army training
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. march — the month
  21. field — farmland
  22. swing — to play on
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cabinet — ministers

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