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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. court — of a king
  3. face — to confront
  4. row — a line
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. track — a song
  7. court — of law
  8. track — a path
  9. branch — a division
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wound — an injury
  12. hand — help
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. pitch — completely
  16. track — to keep track
  17. face — part of the head
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. hand — in cards
  21. court — for sport
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wound — an injury

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