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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rock — music
  4. bound — certain
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bulb — for light
  9. branch — a division
  10. bound — obliged
  11. rock — a stone
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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