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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. face — to point toward
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. face — to confront
  6. squash — to crush
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. clip — to cut
  10. shower — to wash
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. branch — a division
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. face — part of the head
  17. shower — rain
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. clip — for paper
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. capital — money
  24. squash — the sport

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