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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. band — a ring
  4. field — a subject
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. lie — to recline
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — the animal
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. fork — in a road
  23. date — the fruit
  24. fork — to eat with

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