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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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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. mate — a partner
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spring — of water
  6. ground — a position
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bass — low music
  9. spring — the season
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fall — to drop
  12. branch — a division
  13. wax — to grow
  14. ground — the earth
  15. fall — to drop
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — to breed
  18. board — to get on
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bass — the fish
  23. fall — the season
  24. board — a committee

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