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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bound — tied together
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a city
  8. band — a music group
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. capital — money
  13. band — a ring
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bound — obliged
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. bound — certain
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cold — an illness
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — clever

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