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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: face · rule · snap · mouse · branch · cold · firm · kick

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rule — a law
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. firm — decided
  7. face — part of the head
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. face — to point toward
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. branch — a division
  13. kick — in football
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. rule — government
  16. snap — to click
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. firm — a company
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. firm — steady
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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