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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 · cold · chip · clip · jam · spring · rest · sharp

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — not warm
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. rest — a break
  6. clip — a video
  7. sharp — clever
  8. chip — for betting
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. spring — of water
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rest — what's left
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. spring — the season
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rest — what's left
  22. branch — a division
  23. chip — to eat
  24. sharp — with an edge

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