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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: tear · pass · branch · field · patient · bat · trunk · season

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. season — in sport
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. bat — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. tear — from crying
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. season — of the year
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. field — a subject
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. trunk — 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