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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — ground
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. object — to protest
  6. squash — to crush
  7. rash — hasty
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. chip — for betting
  12. rash — a series
  13. land — a country
  14. object — a thing
  15. land — to come down
  16. squash — the sport
  17. chip — to eat
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. branch — a division
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. object — an aim

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