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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: mate · branch · pitch · object · field · land · row · bound

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. object — a thing
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — to protest
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bound — certain
  8. branch — a division
  9. mate — a partner
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. field — for sport
  12. land — a country
  13. field — farmland
  14. row — a line
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. mate — a friend
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bound — obliged
  19. pitch — completely
  20. land — to come down
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bound — tied together
  24. branch — of a bank

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