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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: nail · stock · branch · chest · rule · clip · mug · march

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mug — to rob
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. branch — a division
  7. rule — government
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stock — goods
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. clip — a video
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. march — the month
  15. mug — a face
  16. march — the month
  17. stock — shares
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mug — a cup
  20. rule — a law
  21. chest — of your body
  22. march — music
  23. chest — a box
  24. nail — for a hammer

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