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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: land · temple · dip · pop · trunk · branch · saw · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. land — a country
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. land — ground
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. pop — to visit
  9. dip — to sink
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. saw — the tool
  12. pop — music
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pop — soda
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. cold — an illness
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. land — to come down
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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