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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: wake · spring · tear · clip · spell · staff · cabinet · branch

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wake — a trail
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — magic
  7. staff — employees
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spring — a coil
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. clip — a video
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. spell — a short time
  15. staff — a stick
  16. spring — the season
  17. staff — employees
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — for paper
  22. branch — a division
  23. spring — of water
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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