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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: drill · face · branch · fine · court · cold · leaves · lean

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. face — part of the head
  4. drill — army training
  5. court — for sport
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. lean — to bend
  9. face — to confront
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. lean — thin
  13. face — to point toward
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. branch — a division
  21. drill — the tool
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. drill — a practice
  24. fine — all right

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