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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 116 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. lean — thin
  3. last — to go on
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. march — the month
  6. face — part of the head
  7. march — the month
  8. chair — a leader
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. last — finally
  15. field — a subject
  16. face — to point toward
  17. field — farmland
  18. march — music
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cell — a phone
  21. branch — a division
  22. last — final
  23. field — for sport
  24. lean — to bend

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