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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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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: wound · bat · present · swing · coach · craft · branch · field

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. branch — a division
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — the time now
  5. field — a subject
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. craft — boats
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wound — an injury
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. swing — to play on
  16. craft — a skill
  17. field — farmland
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. present — there
  22. field — for sport
  23. swing — music
  24. coach — a trainer

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