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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: chest · last · branch · season · squash · wax · track · spring

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. track — a path
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. spring — of water
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — the season
  8. track — to keep track
  9. chest — of your body
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. last — finally
  12. squash — to crush
  13. wax — to grow
  14. last — final
  15. branch — a division
  16. season — of the year
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. season — in sport
  19. track — a song
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. squash — the sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. chest — a box
  24. last — to go on

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