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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: spring · clip · hand · cell · trunk · rule · can · branch

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. can — to be able to
  3. rule — government
  4. cell — a phone
  5. clip — for paper
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. spring — the season
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — a tin
  12. hand — help
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. spring — of water
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. branch — a division
  21. rule — a law
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cell — in biology

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