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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. field — a subject
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. field — for sport
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mug — a face
  11. branch — a division
  12. field — farmland
  13. band — a music group
  14. land — to come down
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mug — a cup
  18. land — ground
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. land — a country
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mug — to rob
  24. patient — a sick person

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