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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — of ice
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. bat — the animal
  13. band — a music group
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. dip — to sink
  19. branch — a division
  20. band — a ring
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cap — a lid

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