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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: charge · bound · season · net · clip · arm · branch · race

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. net — after costs
  3. branch — a division
  4. bound — tied together
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bound — certain
  7. clip — a video
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. net — for catching
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — a price
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — in sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. net — in sport
  21. race — humankind
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. charge — in control
  24. clip — for paper

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