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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. row — a line
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wound — an injury
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — to paddle

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