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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: cold · stem · club · spell · fine · land · bound · branch

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bound — tied together
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. spell — letters
  5. fine — all right
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spell — magic
  8. spell — a short time
  9. land — to come down
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. land — a country
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. branch — a division
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. club — for golf
  18. stem — to come from
  19. cold — an illness
  20. club — for dancing
  21. land — ground
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. club — a group

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