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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. court — of law
  3. chest — of your body
  4. branch — a division
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. chip — for betting
  7. mine — for digging
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. chest — a box
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bound — tied together
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bound — certain
  23. chip — to eat
  24. mine — belonging to me

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