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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 120 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: season · branch · rock · cap · bound · cold · pop · bat

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. pop — to visit
  3. rock — music
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bound — certain
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pop — music
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. pop — soda
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — a division
  19. season — of the year
  20. rock — a stone
  21. cold — an illness
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — in sport

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