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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: press · cold · hand · spell · calf · bound · branch · ground

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cold — an illness
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. spell — magic
  7. bound — certain
  8. hand — help
  9. cold — not warm
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — to push
  12. hand — in cards
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bound — obliged
  15. branch — a division
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bound — tied together
  18. ground — a position
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. press — newspapers
  23. ground — crushed
  24. branch — of a tree

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