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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: arm · branch · wound · bass · club · clip · rush · game

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — a video
  5. game — wild animals
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wound — an injury
  8. club — a group
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — a division
  13. bass — low music
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. rush — hurry
  18. club — for dancing
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. game — a match
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. club — for golf
  24. branch — of a bank

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