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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 116 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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. object — an aim
  3. hand — help
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — in cards
  6. shower — rain
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. march — the month
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — the month
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. march — music
  14. object — a thing
  15. mark — a trace
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bound — certain
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — obliged
  22. branch — a division
  23. object — to protest
  24. mark — a grade

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