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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. clip — a video
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. file — a document
  7. staff — a stick
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pound — a weight
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. mate — a partner
  13. staff — employees
  14. mate — a friend
  15. stand — to bear
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mate — to breed
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. branch — a division
  21. staff — employees
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kick — in football

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