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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. scale — size or range
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. toast — bread
  8. branch — a division
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. bear — the animal
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. scale — in music

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