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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.

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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: cold · wind · bank · stock · chip · clip · branch · present

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chip — to eat
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. branch — a division
  11. bank — of a river
  12. stock — goods
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. clip — for paper
  15. present — the time now
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stock — shares
  20. clip — a video
  21. present — a gift
  22. present — there
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bank — for money

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