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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: straw · cap · clip · game · mate · land · stick · branch

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  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. mate — a partner
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a lid
  4. land — to come down
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mate — to breed
  13. branch — a division
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cap — a hat
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — a country
  20. clip — a video
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. land — ground
  23. mate — a friend
  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