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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. march — music
  4. clip — a video
  5. march — the month
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. clip — to cut
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. branch — a division
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fork — in a road
  22. kick — in football
  23. hand — in cards
  24. trunk — of a car

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