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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: field · branch · race · hand · squash · scale · bat · object

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. object — an aim
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. race — a contest
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. squash — to crush
  11. object — to protest
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. hand — help
  14. scale — in music
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. field — a subject
  18. object — a thing
  19. branch — a division
  20. hand — in cards
  21. race — humankind
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. race — the arms race

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