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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. clip — a video
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. toast — bread
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. last — finally
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. dip — to sink
  15. shower — to wash
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. pass — a permit
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. branch — a division

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