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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — a video
  4. bank — of a river
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. branch — a division
  10. bank — for money
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. last — to go on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. clip — to cut
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bank — for money
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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