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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. craft — a skill
  3. branch — a division
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. lean — to bend
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. capital — money
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. lean — thin
  14. cold — not warm
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. craft — boats
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. field — for sport

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