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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. branch — a division
  3. last — final
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bear — the animal
  6. swing — in golf
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. last — finally
  9. bear — the animal
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. clip — a video
  12. board — to get on
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. swing — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. board — a committee
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. swing — to play on
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. last — to go on
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bear — to put up with

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