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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: chip · march · bass · branch · drill · tear · clip · game

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. game — wild animals
  3. tear — from crying
  4. branch — a division
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — a practice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — to rip
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. chip — to eat
  14. march — music
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — from crying
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — the tool
  21. clip — a video
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — low music
  24. game — a kind of play

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