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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: plane · land · saw · branch · spring · chair · mate · tube

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. spring — a coil
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mate — a partner
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. plane — a tool
  10. branch — a division
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mate — a friend
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. land — a country
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. tube — a container
  22. land — ground
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. tube — the underground

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