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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 120 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: lean · cold · mate · branch · club · board · season · swing

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. club — a group
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — to get on
  7. season — in sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. club — for dancing
  10. lean — thin
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. swing — music
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. club — for golf
  17. mate — a partner
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. cold — not warm
  20. season — of the year
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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