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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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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 · clip · perch · kid · chest · march · cabinet · band

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. march — the month
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. chest — a box
  5. band — a ring
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. branch — a division
  9. kid — to tease
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. band — a music group
  12. march — music
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — to cut
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. chest — of your body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — of your body
  24. kid — child

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