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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. staff — employees
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. fine — all right
  5. file — a tool
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fine — high quality
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. staff — a stick
  13. branch — a division
  14. race — humankind
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. file — a document
  19. staff — employees
  20. hand — help
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. race — a contest

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