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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. arm — part of the body
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. key — in music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. shower — to wash
  7. branch — a division
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. field — farmland
  10. key — the most important part
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. field — a subject
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bulb — for light
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. sharp — clever
  18. key — for a lock
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bulb — for light
  23. arm — part of the body
  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