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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. swing — in golf
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. swing — music
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. chest — a box
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — for sport
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. chest — of your body
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. chest — of your body

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