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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — in football
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rash — hasty
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. clip — a video
  12. branch — a division
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. rash — a series
  17. tear — to rip
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pit — a hole
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. degree — an amount
  24. kick — with a leg

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