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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. branch — a division
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — for paper
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. craft — boats
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. mark — a grade
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitch — completely
  17. mark — a trace
  18. field — for sport
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. craft — a skill
  23. scale — in music
  24. craft — a handicraft

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