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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. bass — the instrument
  3. tear — to rip
  4. land — a country
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. prune — to trim
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. land — ground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bass — the fish
  12. branch — a division
  13. land — to come down
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. clip — a video
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. bass — low music
  19. stock — shares
  20. clip — for paper
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. stock — goods
  23. prune — the fruit
  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