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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: ruler · face · straw · tube · last · spring · branch · wax

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. face — to confront
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. spring — of water
  6. last — finally
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. branch — a division
  9. tube — a container
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. face — part of the head
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. wax — to grow
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. tube — the underground
  23. face — to point toward
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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