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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: track · craft · cold · field · wave · snap · bound · branch

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bound — obliged
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bound — tied together
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bound — certain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. craft — boats
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. branch — a division
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. field — a subject
  19. craft — a skill
  20. field — for sport
  21. track — a path
  22. field — farmland
  23. cold — not warm
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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