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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — money
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. band — a ring
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. face — to point toward
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — part of the head
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. bat — the animal
  21. face — to confront
  22. branch — a division
  23. band — a music group
  24. capital — a city

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