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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · cell · squash · clip · object · band · wave · branch

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. band — a music group
  3. cell — a phone
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. object — a thing
  7. clip — for paper
  8. object — an aim
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cell — in biology
  11. season — in sport
  12. band — a ring
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. branch — a division
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. object — to protest
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. season — of the year
  20. clip — a video
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. squash — to crush

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