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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 120 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to bend
  5. march — the month
  6. clip — for paper
  7. march — music
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — a division
  11. shower — rain
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cue — for pool
  14. march — the month
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — a video
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cue — a signal
  24. clip — to cut

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