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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. branch — a division
  3. rest — what's left
  4. content — happy
  5. mate — a friend
  6. clip — to cut
  7. key — the most important part
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. file — a line of people
  11. key — for a lock
  12. wake — a trail
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. file — a document
  15. clip — for paper
  16. key — in music
  17. rest — what's left
  18. mate — to breed
  19. content — the amount
  20. clip — a video
  21. file — a tool
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mate — a partner
  24. branch — of a tree

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