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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fork — in a road
  3. field — a subject
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. march — music
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. march — the month
  14. branch — a division
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cell — a phone
  18. field — farmland
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. march — the month
  21. field — for sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cell — in biology

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