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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 124 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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. scale — in music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. clip — to cut
  5. root — the cause
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. wind — moving air
  9. root — of a plant
  10. mate — a partner
  11. mate — a friend
  12. scale — size or range
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. dip — to sink
  15. mate — to breed
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. branch — a division
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. clip — a video
  20. root — of a word
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. wind — to turn a key

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