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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. track — to keep track
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. track — a song
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. track — a path
  19. clip — a video
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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