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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: shower · wave · branch · mate · spell · cold · cell · wax

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cold — not warm
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. spell — letters
  10. branch — a division
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. mate — to breed
  13. spell — magic
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — rain
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cell — in biology
  24. shower — to wash

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