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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: march · chest · spring · cell · wax · content · leaves · band

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. content — the amount
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. march — the month
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. band — a music group
  12. spring — the season
  13. march — the month
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wax — to grow
  18. content — happy
  19. march — music
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chest — of your body

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