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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. net — for catching
  5. scale — in music
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. shower — rain
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. field — for sport
  12. pop — music
  13. clip — a video
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. pop — soda
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — for paper
  18. net — in sport
  19. scale — size or range
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pop — to visit
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. net — after costs
  24. clip — to cut

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