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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. clip — for paper
  3. branch — a division
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. can — a tin
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. chest — of your body
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. can — a tin
  16. chest — a box
  17. can — to be able to
  18. chest — of your body
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. sharp — clever

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