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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a line
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — to cut
  5. board — a committee
  6. branch — a division
  7. bank — for money
  8. row — to paddle
  9. track — to keep track
  10. clip — a video
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. track — a song
  14. bank — of a river
  15. perch — the fish
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bank — for money
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. branch — of a tree

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