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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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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: rest · cold · bass · branch · pass · snap · saw · clip

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. rest — a break
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pass — a permit
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. cold — not warm
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rest — what's left
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bass — the fish
  13. clip — a video
  14. snap — to click
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bass — low music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. clip — for paper

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