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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: bass · mine · last · clip · board · straw · branch · saw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  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. straw — dry grass
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. saw — the tool
  4. last — finally
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bass — low music
  12. branch — a division
  13. board — to get on
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. last — to go on
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. board — a committee
  20. last — final
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. bass — the fish
  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