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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: date · clip · branch · row · sharp · tube · wind · fork

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. sharp — clever
  8. tube — a container
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. clip — a video
  12. tube — the underground
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. branch — a division
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. row — to paddle
  21. fork — in a road
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tube — in a tire

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