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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: board · land · mug · bat · wax · stem · spring · leaves

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. board — a committee
  3. mug — to rob
  4. spring — the season
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. board — to get on
  8. mug — a cup
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. mug — a face
  11. land — a country
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spring — a coil
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. land — to come down
  18. spring — of water
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. leaves — to go away

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