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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: rock · deal · clip · race · shower · temple · branch · wax

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. shower — to wash
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. deal — to handle
  13. branch — a division
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — a video
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. rock — a stone
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. shower — rain

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