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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: wound · leaves · spring · chair · branch · mine · dip · net

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. net — after costs
  7. chair — a leader
  8. net — for catching
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spring — the season
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. dip — to sink
  19. spring — a coil
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. net — in sport
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — for digging

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