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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: spring · key · kid · cold · pass · bore · trunk · branch

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — a permit
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. kid — child
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bore — to drill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. branch — a division
  9. kid — to tease
  10. spring — the season
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spring — of water
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. key — the most important part
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bore — to tire
  21. spring — a coil
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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