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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: fall · band · bear · branch · lean · land · hand · clip

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — to cut
  4. branch — a division
  5. bear — the animal
  6. fall — the season
  7. lean — thin
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bear — the animal
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. lean — to bend
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. band — a music group
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — in cards
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. hand — help
  24. band — a ring

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