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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: hide · net · wake · band · branch · firm · ground · clip

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. ground — crushed
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. firm — a company
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wake — a trail
  9. branch — a division
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. clip — a video
  12. net — in sport
  13. band — a music group
  14. net — for catching
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. firm — decided
  19. net — after costs
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. clip — for paper
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. band — a ring

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