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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: firm · key · trunk · land · branch · bound · tear · cold

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. key — the most important part
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. firm — decided
  6. bound — certain
  7. key — for a lock
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. land — a country
  12. tear — to rip
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bound — obliged
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — ground
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. land — to come down
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. firm — a company
  22. firm — steady
  23. bound — tied together
  24. branch — of a tree

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