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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: pit · chair · roll · bat · branch · temple · cold · bound

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cold — an illness
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. chair — a leader
  6. roll — a list
  7. pit — a hole
  8. roll — a cake
  9. branch — a division
  10. bound — certain
  11. pit — in a race
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bound — tied together
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cold — not warm
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — obliged
  24. cold — the Cold War

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