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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: club · content · cue · fan · stock · branch · patient · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. club — for dancing
  3. clip — for paper
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. club — for golf
  7. cue — for pool
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. stock — goods
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. content — happy
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. club — a group
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. content — the amount
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — a division
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cue — a hint
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stock — shares

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