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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: present · track · branch · kid · suit · cold · cell · spring

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. present — there
  3. suit — to fit
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. track — a song
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. suit — clothes
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — of water
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cold — not warm
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. kid — to tease
  20. present — a gift
  21. suit — in cards
  22. track — a path
  23. cell — in biology
  24. present — the time now

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