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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: drill · rock · field · wake · deal · branch · ground · rash

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. ground — a position
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. rock — music
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. ground — the earth
  12. deal — to handle
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wake — a trail
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rock — a stone
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. branch — a division
  23. field — a subject
  24. drill — army training

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