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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.

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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 · board · straw · tear · branch · file · root · date

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tear — to rip
  6. file — a tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. field — for sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. branch — a division
  12. file — a document
  13. board — to get on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. file — a line of people
  17. root — of a word
  18. root — the cause
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — a committee
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. root — of a plant
  24. branch — of a tree

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