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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: bark · board · clip · mate · last · bowl · pitch · branch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. branch — a division
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. last — final
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. board — a committee
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. mate — to breed
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — completely
  15. mate — a friend
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. last — finally
  20. bark — to shout
  21. last — to go on
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. clip — a video
  24. board — to get on

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