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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. pop — music
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — hasty
  5. pop — to visit
  6. last — final
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — soda
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. clip — for paper
  14. toast — bread
  15. row — a line
  16. branch — a division
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. row — to paddle
  20. rash — a series
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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