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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bound — certain
  3. shower — rain
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. season — in sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. bound — tied together
  9. season — of the year
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. capital — a city
  13. kid — child
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. clip — a video
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bound — obliged
  22. capital — money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kid — to tease

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