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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 120 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: chest · clip · season · club · row · branch · chip · pitcher

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. chest — of your body
  3. club — for dancing
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. season — of the year
  7. row — a line
  8. season — in sport
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — to cut
  13. branch — a division
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. club — a group
  16. chip — for betting
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. clip — a video
  22. club — for golf
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — in a computer

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