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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. field — for sport
  3. row — a line
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. saw — the tool
  6. drill — the tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — to cut
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. field — a subject
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — army training
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — a hint
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — for paper
  19. row — to paddle
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. drill — a practice
  22. tear — to rip
  23. field — farmland
  24. cue — for pool

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