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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · chest · prune · cell · leaves · wound · spell · march

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. spell — letters
  7. prune — to trim
  8. season — of the year
  9. cell — in biology
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — a short time
  17. prune — to trim
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. chest — of your body
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. march — music
  22. season — in sport
  23. cell — a phone
  24. spell — magic

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