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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. race — the arms race
  6. toast — bread
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — the animal
  14. track — to keep track
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. clip — for paper
  17. race — a contest
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. race — humankind
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. drill — army training
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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