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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: coach · clip · land · field · rock · pound · straw · branch

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. rock — music
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rock — a stone
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. land — ground
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. clip — for paper
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. land — a country
  14. field — farmland
  15. branch — a division
  16. pound — a weight
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — for sport
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. field — a subject
  24. land — to come down

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