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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. bound — certain
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. bound — obliged
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. race — the arms race
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bound — tied together

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