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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 · branch · band · land · club · chest · spring · wax

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. club — for golf
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wax — to grow
  13. club — a group
  14. staff — employees
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — a stick
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — a country
  21. branch — a division
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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