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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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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 · bowl · field · tear · chair · branch · bear · pitch

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. field — farmland
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. field — a subject
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. branch — a division
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. field — for sport
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. pitch — completely

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