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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: calf · lash · branch · face · saw · cold · content · bowl

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. cold — not warm
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. face — part of the head
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — an illness
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. saw — the tool
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. content — the amount
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — to confront
  23. branch — a division
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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