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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: branch · bowl · clip · snap · capital · jam · ground · pop

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. ground — crushed
  3. branch — a division
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — a city
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. pop — soda
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. pop — to visit
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — money
  15. ground — a position
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. pop — music
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. clip — a video
  23. snap — to click
  24. bowl — a dish

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