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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: present · key · ball · trunk · cold · branch · stem · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — the most important part
  4. ball — a dance
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. key — in music
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cold — not warm
  12. clip — to cut
  13. present — a gift
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cold — an illness
  16. present — there
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. branch — a division
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ball — a great time
  24. present — the time now

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