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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: band · charge · clip · press · arm · fall · wound · branch

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — a video
  5. press — to push
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fall — the season
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. band — a music group
  10. fall — to drop
  11. press — newspapers
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — a price
  15. press — a publisher
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — a division
  18. clip — for paper
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. charge — in control
  21. band — a ring
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fall — to drop
  24. clip — to cut

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