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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. root — of a word
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. spring — of water
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. staff — employees
  13. hand — in cards
  14. root — of a plant
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. root — the cause
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. branch — a division
  23. hand — help
  24. game — wild animals

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