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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: spell · season · branch · march · wound · wind · spring · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spell — magic
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. season — of the year
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — in sport
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. chest — a box
  21. spell — letters
  22. spring — of water
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. march — the month

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