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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.

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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.

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: field · wind · mine · spell · stick · march · patient · branch

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. march — music
  3. field — a subject
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. march — the month
  7. branch — a division
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. field — farmland
  10. spell — letters
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spell — a short time
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. mine — for digging
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. field — for sport
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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