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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: safe · march · straw · saw · cold · branch · coach · field

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. field — farmland
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. march — the month
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. branch — a division
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. saw — the tool
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. march — music

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