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

Word bank: bowl · cabinet · cold · snap · branch · bulb · pound · clip

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. branch — a division
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. snap — to click
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bulb — for light
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. clip — to cut
  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