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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — a position
  3. drill — army training
  4. club — for golf
  5. can — a tin
  6. club — a group
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. drill — the tool
  9. chest — a box
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. drill — a practice
  12. can — a tin
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chest — of your body
  16. club — for dancing
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chest — of your body
  21. branch — a division
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. can — to be able to
  24. branch — of a bank

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