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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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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 · club · branch · lean · rock · field · degree · wound

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. field — farmland
  3. degree — from a university
  4. club — for dancing
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. field — for sport
  7. face — to point toward
  8. club — a group
  9. rock — a stone
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — a subject
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. face — to confront
  14. lean — thin
  15. rock — music
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. club — for golf
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wound — an injury
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. lean — to bend
  24. branch — a division

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