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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: hand · roll · root · row · clip · tear · branch · lie

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. root — of a word
  3. roll — a cake
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. clip — to cut
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. hand — in cards
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. hand — help
  14. branch — a division
  15. clip — for paper
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. roll — a list
  18. root — the cause
  19. row — a line
  20. root — of a plant
  21. tear — to rip
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. clip — a video

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