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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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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 · rule · bat · clip · wax · nail · calf · ball

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. ball — a great time
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. branch — a division
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — a law
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. clip — to cut

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