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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. hand — help
  3. clip — for paper
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — to trim
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. hand — in cards
  12. file — a line of people
  13. shower — rain
  14. clip — a video
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. file — a document
  18. cell — in biology
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. shower — to wash
  21. file — a tool
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — a phone
  24. clip — to cut

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