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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. clip — for paper
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. present — a gift
  8. spring — a coil
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. present — there
  12. march — the month
  13. rash — a series
  14. march — the month
  15. present — the time now
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. march — music
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. branch — a division
  21. spring — the season
  22. rash — hasty
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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