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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 120 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: kid · branch · fork · dip · wax · track · clip · mine

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. clip — a video
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. kid — child
  7. track — to keep track
  8. track — a path
  9. fork — in a road
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. mine — for digging
  12. dip — to sink
  13. clip — for paper
  14. branch — a division
  15. track — a song
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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