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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bank — for money
  4. clip — a video
  5. court — of a king
  6. craft — a skill
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. craft — boats
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wind — moving air
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. court — for sport
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bank — for money
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. court — of law
  22. branch — a division
  23. bank — of a river
  24. clip — to cut

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