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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 116 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bulb — for light
  3. craft — a skill
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. file — a line of people
  7. field — for sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. wake — a trail
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. branch — a division
  15. fall — to drop
  16. craft — boats
  17. wound — an injury
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a tool
  20. bulb — for light
  21. file — a document
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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