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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. track — a song
  3. stem — to come from
  4. clip — to cut
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. kid — child
  8. branch — a division
  9. track — a path
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. track — to keep track
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fork — in a road
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. prune — to trim
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stem — a stem cell

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