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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. branch — a division
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. clip — a video
  8. tube — the underground
  9. spring — the season
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. spell — magic
  12. rash — a series
  13. race — a contest
  14. spell — a short time
  15. clip — to cut
  16. toast — bread
  17. spell — letters
  18. race — humankind
  19. spring — a coil
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tube — a container
  23. race — the arms race
  24. spring — of water

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