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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 116 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: branch · hand · club · race · content · field · fine · mine

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. club — a group
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. field — for sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. club — for golf
  10. race — a contest
  11. club — for dancing
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. content — the amount
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. hand — help
  16. fine — high quality
  17. field — a subject
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fine — all right
  21. branch — a division
  22. race — humankind
  23. hand — in cards
  24. field — farmland

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