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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. can — a tin
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — to cut
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. march — music
  14. spell — magic
  15. rush — hurry
  16. spell — letters
  17. can — to be able to
  18. clip — a video
  19. march — the month
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. spell — a short time
  22. can — a tin
  23. march — the month
  24. dip — to sink

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