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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. content — happy
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. drill — the tool
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. drill — army training
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. drill — a practice
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. perch — the fish
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. clip — to cut
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. content — the amount
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. kick — in football

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