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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: clip · branch · snap · bat · coach · trunk

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bat — the animal
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. snap — to click
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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