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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: net · branch · face · cell · stock · mine · wind · rock

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. net — for catching
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. face — to point toward
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rock — music
  9. stock — goods
  10. mine — for digging
  11. face — part of the head
  12. net — after costs
  13. face — to confront
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rock — a stone
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. net — in sport
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stock — shares
  24. wind — to turn a key

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