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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. row — to paddle
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tear — to rip
  7. clip — a video
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bark — to shout
  11. spring — of water
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spring — the season
  18. game — a match
  19. row — a line
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — to cut
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bark — of a tree

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