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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — a position
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. last — to go on
  7. bark — to shout
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. last — final
  10. clip — for paper
  11. last — finally
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. branch — a division
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — a video

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