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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bear — the animal
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. season — in sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. season — of the year
  8. branch — a division
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. hand — help
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. field — a subject
  16. bear — the animal
  17. squash — to crush
  18. current — happening now
  19. squash — the sport
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. field — for sport
  24. wake — a trail

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