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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. firm — steady
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. firm — decided
  6. face — to point toward
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. craft — boats
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. craft — a skill
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. firm — a company
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — not warm
  22. face — to confront
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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