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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. spring — the season
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. clip — a video
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. stand — to bear
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. rest — a break
  20. clip — for paper
  21. branch — a division
  22. spring — of water
  23. ball — a dance
  24. rest — what's left

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