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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. face — to confront
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. branch — a division
  5. clip — to cut
  6. face — to point toward
  7. rash — a series
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bark — to shout
  15. dip — to sink
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. band — a music group
  20. face — part of the head
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. band — a ring
  24. clip — for paper

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