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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 116 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: key · land · branch · mate · mug · clip · row · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — a country
  3. mate — a partner
  4. land — to come down
  5. key — for a lock
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. clip — for paper
  8. key — the most important part
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. row — a line
  12. clip — to cut
  13. land — ground
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — to paddle
  20. clip — a video
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. mug — a face
  24. key — in music

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