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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. shower — rain
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. spell — a short time
  6. chip — for betting
  7. lie — to recline
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — to paddle
  18. clip — for paper
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. chip — to eat
  23. branch — a division
  24. chip — in a computer

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