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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. press — a publisher
  4. chest — a box
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. clip — to cut
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bulb — for light
  15. field — farmland
  16. branch — a division
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — a subject
  20. press — to push
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bulb — for light
  24. field — for sport

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