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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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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: clip · branch · rest · row · pitch · tear · ball · snap

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — a video
  7. branch — a division
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. rest — a break
  10. tear — to rip
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. tear — from crying
  14. clip — to cut
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. ball — a great time
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. rest — what's left
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. tear — from crying
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. ball — a dance

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