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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: clip · rush · game · sharp · wind · branch · calf · field

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. branch — a division
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — a video
  9. wind — moving air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — farmland
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. clip — for paper
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — for sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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