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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 116 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: key · plane · face · field · chip · branch · wound · band

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. key — in music
  3. band — a music group
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. band — a ring
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. field — farmland
  9. plane — a tool
  10. chip — for betting
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — a division
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. key — for a lock
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. key — the most important part
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chip — to eat
  21. field — a subject
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. field — for sport
  24. face — part of the head

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