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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — an illness
  6. key — in music
  7. key — for a lock
  8. scale — size or range
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. net — after costs
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. scale — in music
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. key — the most important part

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