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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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Word bank
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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 · mouse · drill · pitcher · saw · rash · bark · branch

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. branch — a division
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rash — hasty
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. drill — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bark — to shout
  18. drill — army training
  19. rash — a series
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. clip — a video
  24. rash — on the skin

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