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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rule · face · branch · wound · tube · bat · mine · swing

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. branch — a division
  4. rule — government
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. swing — in golf
  9. tube — a container
  10. face — to point toward
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. swing — music
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. face — part of the head
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rule — a law
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wound — an injury

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