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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 bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wound — an injury
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. staff — employees
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. game — a match
  8. wake — a trail
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. game — wild animals
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. spring — a coil
  20. staff — employees
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. branch — a division

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