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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bass — low music
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bass — the fish
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. tube — a container
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. clip — for paper
  13. tear — from crying
  14. face — to confront
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. clip — a video
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. tear — to rip
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tear — from crying
  24. kick — in football

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