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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: pitch · sharp · clip · content · stem · branch · lean · wound

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. branch — a division
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. lean — thin
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stem — to come from
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. content — the amount
  21. pitch — completely
  22. sharp — clever
  23. clip — a video
  24. content — happy

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