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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: clip · fall · stock · branch · wind · pass · march · hand

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stock — shares
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. march — the month
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — music
  9. clip — a video
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. hand — help
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. hand — in cards
  18. fall — the season
  19. pass — a permit
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stock — goods
  22. march — the month
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wind — moving air

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