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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  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. rock — to move gently
  2. cold — an illness
  3. branch — a division
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rash — a series
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. cell — in biology
  8. rock — music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — farmland
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. lie — to recline
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. field — a subject
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rock — a stone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. lie — an untruth
  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