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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cell — a phone
  5. perch — the fish
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. clip — to cut
  11. drill — army training
  12. toast — bread
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — the tool
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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