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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bulb — for light
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. track — to keep track
  10. cold — an illness
  11. field — for sport
  12. bulb — for light
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — a subject
  16. track — a song
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. shower — rain
  21. branch — a division
  22. track — a path
  23. branch — of a tree
  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