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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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. file — a tool
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — of a river
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bank — for money
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to confront
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — there
  14. face — to point toward
  15. file — a document
  16. capital — money
  17. staff — employees
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. capital — a city
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. cold — an illness
  22. file — a line of people
  23. staff — a stick
  24. present — a gift

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