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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. branch — a division
  3. lean — to bend
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — certain
  9. tear — to rip
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bound — obliged
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — not warm
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cold — an illness
  24. calf — a young animal

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