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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: branch · swing · straw · clip · craft · tube · present · mate

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mate — a partner
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. craft — boats
  5. present — the time now
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. present — there
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mate — a friend
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. swing — in golf
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — for paper
  18. craft — a skill
  19. tube — the underground
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mate — to breed
  22. swing — music
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. tube — a container

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