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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: bark · press · cold · bound · sharp · lean · branch · stick

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bound — certain
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. press — newspapers
  5. bound — tied together
  6. press — a publisher
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bound — obliged
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. lean — thin
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bark — to shout
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. lean — to bend
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. press — to push
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. branch — a division

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