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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. clip — a video
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. scale — size or range
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. branch — a division
  11. row — a line
  12. current — electric
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fork — in a road
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spell — magic
  18. row — to paddle
  19. spell — letters
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. current — of water
  23. spell — a short time
  24. clip — to cut

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