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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: band · stem · kid · fall · branch · content · press · face

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. press — to push
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. band — a ring
  7. press — a publisher
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. face — to confront
  15. stem — to come from
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. band — a music group
  19. face — part of the head
  20. press — newspapers
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — happy
  24. face — to point toward

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