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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. field — a subject
  3. snap — to click
  4. shower — rain
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. firm — decided
  7. firm — a company
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. capital — money
  10. shower — to wash
  11. branch — a division
  12. field — farmland
  13. clip — to cut
  14. field — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — for paper
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. capital — a city
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. clip — a video
  22. firm — steady
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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