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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 partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. drill — a practice
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. branch — a division
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. rash — hasty
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. drill — the tool
  12. rash — a series
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — a video
  18. drill — army training
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. plane — a tool
  21. present — a gift
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. present — the time now

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