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

Word bank: branch · snap · arm · face · root · bear · cold · pop

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. face — to confront
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. pop — soda
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a word
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pop — music
  15. root — of a plant
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. snap — to click
  19. cold — not warm
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — to visit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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