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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: chest · spring · wax · chip · lie · branch · bound · degree

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bound — certain
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lie — to recline
  11. branch — a division
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. chip — to eat
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bound — tied together
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spring — a coil
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. chip — for betting
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. spring — of water
  24. chip — in a computer

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