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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 · tear · spring · season · branch · file · present · wind

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. present — the time now
  5. season — of the year
  6. chest — a box
  7. wind — moving air
  8. branch — a division
  9. file — a tool
  10. spring — a coil
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. season — in sport
  13. present — there
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. spring — the season
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. present — a gift

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