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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: chip · spring · arm · branch · lean · court · cap · roll

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cap — a hat
  3. court — for sport
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. spring — a coil
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. chip — for betting
  8. spring — the season
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. lean — thin
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. court — of law
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. court — of a king
  19. chip — to eat
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — a cake
  22. cap — a lid
  23. spring — of water
  24. branch — a division

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