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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: object · spring · cold · board · leaves · wax · branch · court

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. cold — not warm
  4. object — an aim
  5. court — of law
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. board — a committee
  8. court — for sport
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wax — to grow
  12. branch — a division
  13. board — to get on
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. spring — a coil
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. spring — the season
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. court — of a king
  24. leaves — lets stay

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