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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · cold · spring · temple · wax · mine · branch · bulb

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. spring — of water
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mine — for digging
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. branch — a division
  21. bulb — for light
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bulb — for light

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