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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: dip · rush · tube · pitcher · branch · last · field · object

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. last — finally
  3. last — to go on
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. tube — a container
  6. field — farmland
  7. last — final
  8. object — to protest
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. object — a thing
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. object — an aim
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. field — a subject
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. field — for sport
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — hurry
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. dip — to sink

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