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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: branch · wound · cap · spring · wave · chair · mark · wind

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. cap — a lid
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cap — a hat
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mark — a grade
  13. spring — of water
  14. branch — a division
  15. spring — the season
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wound — an injury
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. wave — of the sea

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