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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. clip — for paper
  7. saw — the tool
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. branch — a division
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. spring — the season
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — a coil
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'

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