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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. staff — a stick
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — from crying
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. staff — employees
  8. tear — to rip
  9. clip — a video
  10. branch — a division
  11. tear — from crying
  12. staff — employees
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. ground — crushed
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spell — a short time
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ground — a position
  20. band — a music group
  21. lean — to bend
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spell — magic
  24. lean — thin

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