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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. present — there
  3. face — to point toward
  4. present — a gift
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pound — a weight
  10. cap — of ice
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. present — the time now
  14. cap — a lid
  15. face — part of the head
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. face — to confront
  18. land — a country
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. land — ground
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. land — to come down

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