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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 116 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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. clip — a video
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. kid — child
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bass — low music
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. last — finally
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. branch — a division
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cell — a phone
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. last — final
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chair — a leader
  24. perch — for a bird

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