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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 116 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: branch · file · pitcher · bound · net · clip · wound · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. net — for catching
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — a video
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bound — tied together
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bound — certain
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bound — obliged
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. file — a tool
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. net — after costs
  19. file — a document
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. net — in sport
  24. wound — an injury

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