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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 116 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: bound · kick · leaves · branch · band · clip · kid · mouse

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bound — certain
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kid — child
  10. branch — a division
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. kick — in football
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bound — obliged
  15. band — a ring
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — for paper
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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