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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. shower — rain
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. chair — a leader
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. lean — to bend
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fine — high quality
  14. field — for sport
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. shower — to wash
  17. lean — thin
  18. fine — all right
  19. scale — size or range
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. field — a subject
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. branch — of a bank

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