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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: branch · mine · tube · row · spring · season · race · cabinet

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. season — of the year
  3. race — a contest
  4. spring — the season
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. mine — for digging
  10. branch — a division
  11. season — in sport
  12. spring — a coil
  13. race — the arms race
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. race — humankind
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. tube — a container
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cabinet — ministers

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