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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 120 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: wound · branch · bound · cold · last · file · mate · court

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bound — certain
  4. last — finally
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bound — obliged
  7. last — to go on
  8. court — of law
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wound — an injury
  11. court — for sport
  12. mate — to breed
  13. file — a tool
  14. mate — a partner
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wound — an injury
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. court — of a king
  20. branch — a division
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. file — a document
  23. last — final
  24. branch — of a bank

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