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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. foot — a measure
  3. race — a contest
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. clip — to cut
  9. race — humankind
  10. net — in sport
  11. race — the arms race
  12. branch — a division
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. fall — to drop
  16. net — after costs
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — to drop
  22. net — for catching
  23. clip — a video
  24. fall — the season

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