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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: club · sharp · stand · field · cabinet · branch · wound · spring

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. club — a group
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. spring — the season
  5. field — for sport
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. branch — a division
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. field — farmland
  12. club — for dancing
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. stand — to bear
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. spring — of water
  21. sharp — clever
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. club — for golf

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