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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: land · branch · cold · pass · mark · kick · pound · bass

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. land — ground
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. branch — a division
  5. mark — a grade
  6. bass — the fish
  7. land — a country
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cold — not warm
  10. land — to come down
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. pass — a permit
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. kick — in football
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bass — low music
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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