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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: field · branch · present · ground · bass · key · bound · cold

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  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. bass — low music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. present — the time now
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — a position
  6. bound — obliged
  7. present — there
  8. ground — crushed
  9. branch — a division
  10. key — for a lock
  11. ground — the earth
  12. field — for sport
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. field — farmland
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cold — not warm
  17. present — a gift
  18. bound — certain
  19. key — in music
  20. bound — tied together
  21. field — a subject
  22. bass — the fish
  23. key — the most important part
  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