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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. chair — a leader
  3. file — a tool
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. wake — a trail
  7. present — the time now
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. clip — a video
  11. present — a gift
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. clip — to cut
  16. present — there
  17. file — a document
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. branch — a division
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. chair — a professorship

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