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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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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: bass · band · season · branch · date · face · field · perch

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. face — part of the head
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. date — the fruit
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. season — of the year
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. band — a music group
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bass — the fish
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. perch — the fish
  16. bass — low music
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. field — a subject
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. band — a ring
  22. season — in sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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