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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 120 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: clip · fine · key · game · shower · mine · wind · branch

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. clip — a video
  6. game — a match
  7. mine — for digging
  8. key — the most important part
  9. clip — to cut
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. branch — a division
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. wind — moving air
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wind — moving air
  20. key — in music
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. fine — all right
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. clip — for paper

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