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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 120 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: fan · bass · clip · chair · object · branch · wound · last

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — finally
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. object — a thing
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. last — to go on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. object — an aim
  14. last — final
  15. object — to protest
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — a leader
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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