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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. last — finally
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. last — final
  8. branch — a division
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. plane — a tool
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. last — to go on
  17. spring — of water
  18. field — farmland
  19. wax — to grow
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. spring — the season
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. spring — a coil

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