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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. branch — a division
  3. face — to confront
  4. track — to keep track
  5. last — final
  6. track — a song
  7. hand — help
  8. spring — of water
  9. last — to go on
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. last — finally
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. face — part of the head
  14. spring — the season
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. hand — in cards
  17. face — to point toward
  18. spring — a coil
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — decided
  21. track — a path
  22. row — a line
  23. firm — a company
  24. row — to paddle

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