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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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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: wound · field · cap · swing · branch · clip · lie · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. lie — to recline
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — to cut
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cap — a hat
  8. field — a subject
  9. cap — a lid
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — farmland
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. swing — in golf
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. swing — music
  18. branch — a division
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. field — for sport
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cap — of ice
  24. sharp — clever

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