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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 · ground · wax · charge · sharp · row · land · clip

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. clip — for paper
  3. charge — a price
  4. wax — to grow
  5. ground — crushed
  6. row — a line
  7. charge — in control
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. charge — electricity
  10. ground — the earth
  11. branch — a division
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. land — a country
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. sharp — clever
  20. ground — a position
  21. land — to come down
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. branch — of a tree

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