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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: pound · clip · band · rock · kid · spring · mine · branch

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. rock — a stone
  3. branch — a division
  4. band — a music group
  5. kid — child
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — a video
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pound — a weight
  12. spring — of water
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mine — for digging
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — a coil
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. kid — to tease
  23. rock — music
  24. spring — the season

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