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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: chair · stem · content · branch · clip · wave · present · band

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. band — a music group
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. branch — a division
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. band — a ring
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. content — the amount
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. present — a gift
  15. clip — for paper
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. chair — a leader
  19. present — there
  20. content — happy
  21. stem — to come from
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. present — the time now

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