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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: wake · bay · branch · wound · wind · clip · shower · race

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. branch — a division
  6. race — humankind
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. clip — a video
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. wound — an injury
  12. race — a contest
  13. shower — rain
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  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