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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 · rush · ground · bass · net · cold · stem · clip

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bass — low music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rush — hurry
  8. branch — a division
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. net — in sport
  15. ground — a position
  16. net — after costs
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bass — the fish
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. ground — crushed
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. bass — the instrument

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