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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: bear · kick · field · branch · lean · stem · pound · drill

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bear — the animal
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. field — a subject
  8. stem — to come from
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. branch — a division
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. kick — in football
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bear — the animal
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. field — for sport
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. field — farmland
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. drill — the tool
  24. branch — of a tree

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