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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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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 · cold · lean · branch · snap · bear · racket · row

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cold — an illness
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. clip — a video
  12. bear — the animal
  13. row — to paddle
  14. lean — thin
  15. clip — for paper
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. row — a line
  19. snap — to click
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. branch — a division
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. lean — to bend
  24. clip — to cut

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