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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. spell — letters
  3. branch — a division
  4. dip — to sink
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — a video
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spell — magic
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. rest — what's left
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. spell — a short time
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. clip — to cut

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