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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 116 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. deal — to handle
  7. field — farmland
  8. kid — child
  9. field — for sport
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mate — a partner
  12. degree — an amount
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bulb — for light
  18. degree — from a university
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mate — a friend
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bulb — for light

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