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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: ball · trunk · wound · bat · face · bound · branch · spell

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. face — part of the head
  3. branch — a division
  4. spell — magic
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spell — letters
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. face — to point toward
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bound — tied together
  20. face — to confront
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bound — obliged
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bound — certain

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