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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. field — farmland
  3. band — a ring
  4. mate — a friend
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. field — for sport
  7. mate — to breed
  8. court — of law
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. mate — a partner
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. field — a subject
  16. dip — to sink
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. band — a music group
  19. court — of a king
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. court — 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