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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: patient · branch · wind · band · file · present · field · mouse

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. present — the time now
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. band — a music group
  10. file — a document
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. file — a line of people
  14. present — a gift
  15. file — a tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wind — moving air
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. present — there
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. field — a subject

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