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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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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: staff · kick · face · branch · content · wound · clip · stock

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. clip — a video
  4. face — to confront
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — happy
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. staff — employees
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. content — the amount
  12. branch — a division
  13. wound — an injury
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stock — goods
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. staff — a stick
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — to cut
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. stock — shares
  22. kick — in football
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stock — a soup base

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