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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. game — a match
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. court — for sport
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. court — of a king
  12. fork — in a road
  13. court — of law
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — a division
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. field — a subject
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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