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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: wake · track · key · spring · branch · wound · ground · pound

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. spring — of water
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — the season
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pound — a weight
  11. ground — the earth
  12. track — a song
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. key — for a lock
  15. track — a path
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. key — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wake — a trail

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