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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. face — to point toward
  3. tube — a container
  4. march — music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. march — the month
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. face — part of the head
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. object — an aim
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. face — to confront
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. branch — a division
  21. object — a thing
  22. tube — the underground
  23. wound — an injury
  24. object — to protest

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