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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. current — electric
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. race — a contest
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. current — happening now
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. clip — for paper
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cell — a phone
  15. branch — a division
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. march — music
  19. bass — low music
  20. bass — the fish
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. kid — child
  24. current — of water

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