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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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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 · branch · spring · clip · bass · press · nail · stock

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. bass — low music
  4. spring — the season
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wound — an injury
  8. press — to push
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — a division
  11. press — a publisher
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — shares
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bass — the fish
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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