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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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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: patient · snap · clip · cell · wind · pitcher · rest · branch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cell — a phone
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. clip — a video
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rest — a break
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — what's left

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