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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. clip — for paper
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. row — a line
  5. mine — for digging
  6. branch — a division
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. ball — a dance
  9. file — a tool
  10. deal — to handle
  11. clip — to cut
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — to paddle
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. clip — a video
  21. ball — a great time
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. file — a document

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