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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. pitch — completely
  7. press — to push
  8. pound — a weight
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — a division
  12. press — newspapers
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. wound — an injury
  15. clip — a video
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. press — a publisher
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. clip — for paper
  24. spring — of water

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