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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. present — there
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. prune — to trim
  7. field — a subject
  8. prune — to trim
  9. land — to come down
  10. present — a gift
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. season — of the year
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. branch — a division
  17. hand — in cards
  18. land — a country
  19. field — for sport
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. field — farmland
  22. present — the time now
  23. hand — help
  24. season — in 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