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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 116 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. content — the amount
  5. clip — a video
  6. march — the month
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. clip — to cut
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. face — to confront
  13. march — music
  14. bear — the animal
  15. content — happy
  16. clip — for paper
  17. dip — to sink
  18. tear — from crying
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bear — the animal
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. march — the month
  23. face — part of the head
  24. tear — to rip

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