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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: track · present · clip · kick · capital · branch · leaves · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. present — a gift
  5. branch — a division
  6. track — a song
  7. clip — to cut
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. kick — in football
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. track — to keep track
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. capital — money
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. present — the time now
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. track — a path
  18. net — in sport
  19. present — there
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. clip — a video

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