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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: chest · pitch · mate · clip · sharp · can · branch · rash

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rash — a series
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. mate — a friend
  7. can — to be able to
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitch — completely
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. sharp — clever
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. can — a tin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. can — a tin
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mate — a partner
  20. clip — a video
  21. branch — a division
  22. mate — to breed
  23. clip — to cut
  24. chest — a box

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