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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. rest — what's left
  4. branch — a division
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — for sport
  7. spring — of water
  8. hand — in cards
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. hand — help
  11. rest — what's left
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — the season
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — a tool
  17. field — a subject
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. rest — a break

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