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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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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: wound · rest · branch · bound · wake · bat · mine · ball

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bound — certain
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wake — a trail
  12. branch — a division
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bound — obliged
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. ball — a dance

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