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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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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: tear · wave · clip · court · branch · bark · lean · shower

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. court — of a king
  5. clip — for paper
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — thin
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. lean — to bend
  15. shower — to wash
  16. branch — a division
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. bark — to shout
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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