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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. can — a tin
  5. last — final
  6. court — of law
  7. clip — a video
  8. can — a tin
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. can — to be able to
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. degree — an amount
  17. branch — a division
  18. last — to go on
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. degree — temperature
  21. chest — a box
  22. last — finally
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chest — of your body

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