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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. face — to point toward
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. face — to confront
  5. last — to go on
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. cold — an illness
  10. row — a line
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — to paddle
  13. last — finally
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. face — part of the head
  17. present — the time now
  18. last — final
  19. present — there
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. branch — a division
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — not warm
  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