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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — to wash
  6. clip — to cut
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rash — hasty
  10. shower — rain
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. rash — a series
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. branch — a division

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