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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 120 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: clip · fork · mine · ground · key · branch · sharp · present

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — clever
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. present — there
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. key — for a lock
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mine — for digging
  16. key — the most important part
  17. key — in music
  18. present — the time now
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. ground — crushed
  21. present — a gift
  22. clip — to cut
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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