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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: wound · sharp · branch · wind · current · race · clip · nail

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. clip — to cut
  4. current — of water
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — a division
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — electric
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. race — a contest
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. wind — moving air
  16. current — happening now
  17. clip — a video
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. sharp — clever
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wound — an injury

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