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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: last · clip · tube · file · bat · fan · present · branch

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — there
  4. last — to go on
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. bat — the animal
  7. branch — a division
  8. clip — to cut
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — finally
  13. tube — a container
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. last — final
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a document
  21. tube — the underground
  22. clip — for paper
  23. present — the time now
  24. clip — a video

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