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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · hand · jam · cold · branch · fine · straw · wave

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  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. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fine — all right
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. branch — a division
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — an illness
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fine — high quality
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hand — help
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. jam — in traffic
  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