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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: temple · spring · last · pop · branch · stand · ball · file

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pop — music
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a dance
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. last — to go on
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pop — soda
  12. stand — to bear
  13. pop — to visit
  14. spring — a coil
  15. file — a tool
  16. spring — the season
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. spring — of water
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. last — finally
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. file — a document

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