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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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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: wake · branch · chest · present · lean · saw · mine · spring

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. present — the time now
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. spring — of water
  8. mine — for digging
  9. chest — a box
  10. saw — the tool
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. chest — of your body
  13. lean — to bend
  14. present — there
  15. lean — thin
  16. spring — the season
  17. present — a gift
  18. branch — a division
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. mine — an explosive

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