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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. spring — a coil
  4. saw — the tool
  5. branch — a division
  6. march — music
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. spring — the season
  10. field — farmland
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spring — of water
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. last — to go on
  20. field — for sport
  21. last — finally
  22. field — a subject
  23. march — the month
  24. last — final

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