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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mark — a grade
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. content — happy
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — the earth
  7. content — the amount
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bass — low music
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. ground — a position
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. field — for sport
  19. bass — the fish
  20. branch — a division
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mark — a trace
  23. court — of a king
  24. field — farmland

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