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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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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — a permit
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. field — a subject
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. capital — money
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. face — to point toward
  12. field — farmland
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. branch — a division
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. rash — hasty
  17. capital — a city
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. face — to confront
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. face — part of the head
  22. field — for sport
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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