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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spell — letters
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. kid — to tease
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. field — farmland
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. can — to be able to
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — for sport
  17. bark — to shout
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. field — a subject
  21. kid — child
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — a tin
  24. spell — a short time

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