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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 120 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: cold · field · chest · branch · rush · bowl · kick · fall

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. field — farmland
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. field — for sport
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kick — in football
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — not warm
  16. branch — a division
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. fall — to drop
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. field — a subject
  23. fall — the season
  24. bowl — a dish

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