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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: march · board · wave · present · clip · content · branch · mine

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. branch — a division
  7. board — a committee
  8. content — happy
  9. present — there
  10. board — to get on
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. march — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. present — a gift
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. present — the time now
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. content — the amount
  24. wave — of the sea

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