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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. branch — a division
  3. wind — moving air
  4. last — finally
  5. face — part of the head
  6. clip — a video
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. track — a path
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. face — to point toward
  12. lean — thin
  13. rest — what's left
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. track — to keep track
  16. rest — a break
  17. face — to confront
  18. clip — to cut
  19. last — to go on
  20. lean — to bend
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wind — moving air
  24. last — final

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