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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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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 · fork · wind · bulb · temple · mouse · branch · date

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. field — a subject
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. branch — a division
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. date — the fruit
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bulb — for light

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