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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · squash · branch · race · face · degree

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. face — to confront
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. race — humankind
  5. face — to point toward
  6. squash — to crush
  7. branch — a division
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — to rip
  11. degree — an amount
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — from a university
  14. race — the arms race
  15. tear — from crying
  16. face — part of the head
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. squash — the sport

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