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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: branch · bound · object · cold · clip · bat · root · squash

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. clip — a video
  3. squash — to crush
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bound — tied together
  6. squash — the sport
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. root — of a plant
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. root — of a word
  14. branch — a division
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bound — obliged
  19. object — to protest
  20. clip — for paper
  21. object — a thing
  22. object — an aim
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — an illness

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