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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. club — for dancing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. firm — decided
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — child
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. clip — to cut
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. firm — a company
  21. branch — a division
  22. cell — in biology
  23. shower — rain
  24. firm — steady

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