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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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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: bound · mine · branch · bark · drill · ground · nail · bat

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. branch — a division
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bound — obliged
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bound — certain
  12. drill — army training
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ground — a position
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. drill — a practice
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ground — crushed

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