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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: branch · kid · clip · ground · fork · bay · cabinet · cell

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. branch — a division
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cell — a phone
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. ground — the earth
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. ground — a position
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. kid — child
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. fork — in a road

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