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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.

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: clip · march · bear · branch · hand · trunk · pitch · chair

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. hand — help
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. hand — in cards
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitch — completely
  16. clip — to cut
  17. march — music
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bear — the animal
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bear — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. hand — part of the body

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