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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. cell — in biology
  3. row — a line
  4. kick — in football
  5. branch — a division
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. march — music
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kid — to tease
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — to cut
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kid — child
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. clip — for paper

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