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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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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: season · tear · spring · branch · march · mug · cue · cold

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. branch — a division
  3. tear — from crying
  4. season — of the year
  5. march — music
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. tear — to rip
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mug — a face
  19. season — in sport
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. mug — to rob
  22. spring — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. branch — of a bank

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