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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — thin
  4. court — of a king
  5. field — farmland
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lean — to bend
  8. court — of law
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. court — for sport
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. field — a subject
  16. squash — to crush
  17. branch — a division
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chest — a box
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. field — for sport
  24. squash — the sport

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