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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: hand · season · mine · deal · drill · branch · dip · clip

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — the tool
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. drill — a practice
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mine — for digging
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. hand — help
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. clip — for paper
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. season — of the year
  22. drill — army training
  23. season — in sport
  24. dip — to sink

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