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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mine — for digging
  3. branch — a division
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tear — to rip
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — a subject
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. tear — from crying
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. field — for sport
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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