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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.

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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: staff · clip · can · branch · cap · spell · field · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. staff — a stick
  3. chest — a box
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. field — a subject
  9. spell — letters
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spell — magic
  13. can — a tin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cap — a lid
  16. spell — a short time
  17. field — for sport
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. field — farmland
  24. branch — a division

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