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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. shower — rain
  4. band — a music group
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. clip — for paper
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — a video
  13. shower — to wash
  14. band — a ring
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bore — to tire
  24. ground — crushed

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