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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. branch — a division
  2. field — a subject
  3. kid — child
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. prune — to trim
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. prune — to trim
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kid — to tease
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. field — farmland
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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