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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. hand — help
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. clip — a video
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. charge — in control
  15. charge — a price
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. fork — in a road
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. tear — to rip
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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