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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — a subject
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. file — a tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. branch — a division
  9. file — a line of people
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. field — for sport
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. field — farmland
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — a country
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. kick — in football
  22. land — ground
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a document

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