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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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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: clip · pound · board · branch · stick · cold · arm · pit

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. clip — a video
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. board — to get on
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pit — a hole
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. board — a committee
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. cold — not warm

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