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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: staff · craft · content · branch · wax · spring · coach · bound

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bound — obliged
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. craft — boats
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spring — the season
  11. staff — a stick
  12. bound — tied together
  13. content — the amount
  14. staff — employees
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bound — certain
  21. branch — a division
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. craft — a skill

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