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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 120 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: face · hide · saw · branch · march · band · degree · field

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. march — music
  4. saw — the tool
  5. march — the month
  6. face — part of the head
  7. field — farmland
  8. face — to point toward
  9. branch — a division
  10. saw — the tool
  11. band — a music group
  12. field — for sport
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. face — to confront
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. degree — temperature
  23. field — a subject
  24. degree — an amount

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