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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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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: chair · leaves · wind · branch · mine · wake · ground · mate

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. ground — the earth
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wake — a trail
  14. ground — crushed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — to breed
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. ground — a position
  24. wind — moving air

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