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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. court — of law
  4. swing — music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. swing — in golf
  7. court — for sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. swing — to play on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. craft — a skill
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. branch — a division
  14. bass — the fish
  15. craft — boats
  16. bass — low music
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. court — of a king
  20. mine — for digging
  21. field — a subject
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. field — farmland
  24. chair — to sit on

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