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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · arm · can · cold · branch · kid · pop · court

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kid — to tease
  4. can — a tin
  5. kid — child
  6. can — to be able to
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. pop — music
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. can — a tin
  15. pop — soda
  16. court — of law
  17. branch — a division
  18. court — for sport
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pop — to visit
  22. court — of a king
  23. mine — for digging
  24. arm — a part of something

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