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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. suit — clothes
  7. bear — the animal
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. root — of a word
  10. club — a group
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. cold — not warm
  15. root — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. suit — to fit
  20. branch — a division
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pass — a permit
  24. suit — in cards

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