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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: cold · land · bank · branch · pound · date · kick · band

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bank — for money
  6. bank — for money
  7. band — a music group
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. land — ground
  13. kick — in football
  14. pound — a weight
  15. branch — a division
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — a country
  18. cold — not warm
  19. land — to come down
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bank — of a river
  23. kick — with a leg
  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