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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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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: cold · tear · face · deal · scale · saw · branch · rock

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. tear — from crying
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. rock — a stone
  7. face — part of the head
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rock — music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. face — to point toward
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. branch — a division
  20. scale — in music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. scale — size or range
  23. deal — to handle
  24. cold — not warm

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