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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 116 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: spell · bulb · pop · branch · land · wound · cell · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. branch — a division
  9. pop — soda
  10. spell — a short time
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spell — magic
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. cell — in biology
  19. land — to come down
  20. spell — letters
  21. bulb — for light
  22. pop — music
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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