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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spell — magic
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. band — a ring
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. band — a music group
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. can — to be able to
  15. branch — a division
  16. spring — of water
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spell — letters
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spell — a short time

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