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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. object — to protest
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. net — after costs
  6. field — for sport
  7. net — in sport
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. field — farmland
  10. lean — thin
  11. object — a thing
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. stand — to bear
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spring — of water
  16. object — an aim
  17. field — a subject
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. net — for catching
  20. lean — to bend
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. branch — a division
  24. stand — on your feet

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