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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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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cell — in biology
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. pop — soda
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. pop — to visit
  19. sharp — clever
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bound — obliged
  24. sharp — exactly

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