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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: ground · cold · cap · court · bass · date · pound · branch

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pound — a weight
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — an illness
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cold — not warm
  7. court — of a king
  8. bass — the fish
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. ground — the earth
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. date — the fruit
  14. cap — of ice
  15. ground — a position
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. branch — a division
  22. bass — low music
  23. court — for sport
  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