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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 120 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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. club — for golf
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. clip — a video
  6. band — a ring
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. club — for dancing
  11. row — to paddle
  12. press — newspapers
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. clip — for paper
  17. club — a group
  18. perch — the fish
  19. press — a publisher
  20. clip — to cut
  21. press — to push
  22. ball — a dance
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. ball — a great time

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