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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 · temple · land · snap · capital · cold · saw · wax

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. branch — a division
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. saw — the tool
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. snap — to click
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. land — ground
  21. capital — a city
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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