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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · fork · tear · toast · branch · ruler

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. clip — for paper
  3. tear — from crying
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fork — in a road
  12. branch — a division
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. tear — from crying
  15. toast — bread
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring

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