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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: season · mine · sharp · branch · court · cell · wake · bound

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. court — for sport
  6. mine — for digging
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. court — of law
  11. bound — obliged
  12. branch — a division
  13. cell — in biology
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. court — of a king
  20. season — in sport
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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