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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — a video
  8. spell — letters
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. mark — a grade
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hand — help
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. spell — magic
  18. mark — a trace
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spell — a short time
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. hand — part of the 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