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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: bear · hand · branch · wind · clip · snap · sharp · mate

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bear — the animal
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mate — a partner
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — a video
  14. mate — a friend
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bear — the animal
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. snap — to click
  20. clip — to cut
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. hand — help
  24. branch — of a tree

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