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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: fan · race · branch · track · straw · clip · ruler · hand

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. track — a path
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. clip — a video
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — to keep track
  11. race — humankind
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. race — a contest
  14. hand — help
  15. clip — to cut
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. branch — a division
  21. track — a song
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. race — the arms race
  24. straw — dry grass

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