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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: spring · land · squash · season · branch · pound · wake · wave

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. spring — of water
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pound — a weight
  9. spring — the season
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. season — of the year
  12. land — ground
  13. squash — the sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. season — to add flavour
  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