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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bass — low music
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bank — for money
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. clip — a video
  8. snap — to click
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. tear — to rip
  11. net — in sport
  12. bank — for money
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bank — of a river
  16. net — after costs
  17. land — to come down
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — ground
  20. branch — a division
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — a country
  24. net — for catching

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