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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to click
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. object — to protest
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kid — child
  13. mine — for digging
  14. kid — to tease
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. perch — the fish
  19. object — a thing
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. object — an aim
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. branch — a division

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