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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: chip · pound · field · tear · branch · scale · arm · mate

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. tear — from crying
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. tear — to rip
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. mate — to breed
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — for betting
  12. branch — a division
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. field — farmland
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mate — a friend
  18. scale — in music
  19. pound — a weight
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pound — for dogs

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