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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. branch — a division
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. face — to confront
  6. club — a group
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. club — for dancing
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. face — to point toward
  15. clip — a video
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. tube — a container
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — money

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