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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. chest — of your body
  3. march — the month
  4. clip — to cut
  5. chest — a box
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. clip — for paper
  9. season — of the year
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. march — music
  12. root — of a word
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. root — of a plant
  15. season — in sport
  16. branch — a division
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — the month
  22. root — the cause
  23. chest — of your body
  24. tube — the underground

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