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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. branch — a division
  3. march — the month
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — for sport
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wake — a trail
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rule — government
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — the month
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — a subject
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rule — a law
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. clip — for paper
  22. march — music
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. field — farmland

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