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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. fall — the season
  3. march — the month
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. spring — a coil
  6. season — in sport
  7. spring — of water
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. present — the time now
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — the season
  14. present — there
  15. field — a subject
  16. branch — a division
  17. fall — to drop
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. present — a gift
  20. season — of the year
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. field — for sport

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