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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 120 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. spring — of water
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. row — a line
  5. field — for sport
  6. pop — music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. field — a subject
  9. present — the time now
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. field — farmland
  15. present — there
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. pop — to visit
  19. spring — the season
  20. sharp — clever
  21. row — to paddle
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pop — soda

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