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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. court — of a king
  5. wake — a trail
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — for paper
  11. court — for sport
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. branch — a division
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. game — a match
  20. clip — a video
  21. lie — to recline
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. row — a quarrel

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