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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chest — a box
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — to point toward
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chest — of your body
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. face — to confront
  12. saw — the tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ground — crushed
  18. net — for catching
  19. march — music
  20. net — in sport
  21. march — the month
  22. ground — a position
  23. face — part of the head
  24. march — the month

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