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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: wind · press · clip · capital · branch · patient

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. branch — a division
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. wind — moving air
  8. press — newspapers
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wind — moving air
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. clip — a video
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. press — to push
  17. press — a publisher
  18. 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