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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: branch · fine · trunk · rash · spring · stock · clip · hide

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. stock — shares
  7. branch — a division
  8. fine — all right
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. stock — goods
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. rash — hasty
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. fine — high quality
  17. spring — the season
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. spring — of water
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. spring — a coil
  23. rash — a series
  24. hide — animal skin

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