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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hand — in cards
  3. charge — electricity
  4. clip — to cut
  5. club — a group
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. face — part of the head
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tear — from crying
  14. club — for golf
  15. face — to confront
  16. clip — a video
  17. club — for dancing
  18. tear — from crying
  19. charge — a price
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. face — to point toward
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wind — moving air
  24. charge — in control

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