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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. face — to point toward
  3. ground — crushed
  4. hand — in cards
  5. branch — a division
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bore — to tire
  10. face — to confront
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. hand — help
  13. ground — a position
  14. bore — to drill
  15. ground — the earth
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. land — ground

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