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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: straw · branch · capital · fork · cold · arm · face · fan

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. face — part of the head
  6. capital — money
  7. branch — a division
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. capital — a city
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. face — to confront
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fan — a supporter

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