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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. ground — a position
  3. swing — music
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — there
  10. ground — the earth
  11. season — of the year
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wound — an injury
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. present — the time now
  19. branch — a division
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. season — in 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