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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. field — for sport
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. spell — magic
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the sport
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — happy
  13. field — farmland
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — a short time
  18. face — part of the head
  19. field — a subject
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spell — letters

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