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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. branch — a division
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — crushed
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. clip — to cut
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — a position

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