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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lie · last · bass · chair · hand · branch · wind · clip

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. branch — a division
  4. lie — to recline
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — to go on
  7. hand — help
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bass — the fish
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bass — low music
  20. last — final
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wind — moving air
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. last — finally

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