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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: chip · race · straw · court · scale · branch · field · patient

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chip — to eat
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. scale — in music
  5. race — humankind
  6. scale — size or range
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. race — a contest
  12. chip — for betting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. court — of law
  16. field — for sport
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — of a king
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. field — a subject
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. field — farmland
  24. straw — dry grass

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