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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 120 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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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: spring · wax · chest · ground · cell · branch · stand · fall

  1. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. spring — the season
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fall — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. branch — a division
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spring — a coil
  14. ground — a position
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. ground — the earth
  17. stand — to bear
  18. chest — a box
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cell — a phone
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ground — crushed
  23. chest — of your body
  24. branch — of a bank

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