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

Word bank: chair · field · bear · land · snap · branch · hide · fall

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. fall — to drop
  5. branch — a division
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — to come down
  8. bear — the animal
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. land — a country
  12. fall — the season
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. bear — the animal
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to click
  21. field — a subject
  22. chair — a leader
  23. land — ground
  24. branch — of a bank

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