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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 · clip · straw · branch · net · patient · coach · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. clip — to cut
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. branch — a division
  7. track — to keep track
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. net — after costs
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. track — a path
  16. net — for catching
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bat — the animal
  21. net — in sport
  22. track — a song
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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