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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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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: cue · game · lean · branch · bat · clip · mate · land

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cue — a signal
  4. game — a match
  5. land — to come down
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. mate — to breed
  10. cue — for pool
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mate — a partner
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. mate — a friend
  19. cue — a hint
  20. branch — a division
  21. lean — to bend
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. lean — thin
  24. bat — for baseball

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