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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. branch — a division
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. season — in sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. fall — to drop
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. mine — for digging
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. fall — the season
  13. game — wild animals
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. snap — to click
  17. game — a match
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. season — of the year
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. stand — on your feet

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