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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: mine · drill · branch · clip · mouse · lie · staff · field

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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 — for paper
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. branch — a division
  5. drill — a practice
  6. staff — employees
  7. field — a subject
  8. staff — employees
  9. field — for sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. staff — a stick
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. lie — to recline
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. drill — army training
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. field — farmland
  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