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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: fall · branch · hide · lash · court · clip · trunk · present

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. branch — a division
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. clip — for paper
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. present — there
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. present — the time now
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. present — a gift
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. clip — a video
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. court — for sport
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. fall — the season
  24. branch — of a bank

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