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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · cold · field · branch · ball · nail

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. field — a subject
  4. chip — for betting
  5. branch — a division
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. ball — a great time
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. field — farmland
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chip — to eat
  17. field — for sport
  18. ball — a dance

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