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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bat — the animal
  14. squash — the sport
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. squash — to crush
  18. face — to point toward

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