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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a trace
  4. face — to confront
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — a division
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bass — the fish
  9. mark — a grade
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. face — part of the head
  16. tear — to rip
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. clip — a video
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. face — to point toward
  24. rash — a series

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