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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — for paper
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. clip — to cut
  8. club — a group
  9. branch — a division
  10. swing — to play on
  11. march — music
  12. tear — from crying
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. tube — the underground
  18. club — for golf
  19. swing — music
  20. march — the month
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. club — for dancing
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. swing — in golf

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