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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. field — farmland
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — after costs
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stem — to come from
  7. cap — a hat
  8. field — a subject
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cap — of ice
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. field — for sport
  13. branch — a division
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cap — a lid
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. net — in sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. nail — on a finger

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