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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. roll — a cake
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. clip — to cut
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. field — farmland
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. roll — a list
  13. branch — a division
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. field — for sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. field — a subject
  21. clip — a video
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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