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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. face — to confront
  6. branch — a division
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fall — to drop
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. stem — to come from
  11. deal — to handle
  12. court — for sport
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of law
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. face — to point toward
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. cell — in biology
  21. court — of a king
  22. cell — a phone
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cell — in a prison

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