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

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. fall — to drop
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. bank — of a river
  12. fall — the season
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. rest — a break
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bank — for money
  17. rest — what's left
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bank — for money
  22. rest — what's left
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. clip — for paper

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