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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: branch · fine · racket · race · snap · face · wind · cold

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  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. race — a contest
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — an illness
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. face — part of the head
  6. race — humankind
  7. face — to point toward
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — a division
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fine — all right
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fine — high quality
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wind — moving air
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  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