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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. lean — to bend
  3. present — the time now
  4. scale — in music
  5. present — there
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. file — a document
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. scale — size or range
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. file — a line of people
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. lean — thin
  23. file — a tool
  24. branch — a division

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