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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bark — to shout
  3. present — there
  4. branch — a division
  5. cold — an illness
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. field — for sport
  8. ball — a great time
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. present — a gift
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. present — the time now
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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