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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: cap · cold · branch · face · pop · wake · mine · squash

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cold — not warm
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. face — to confront
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — a division
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cap — of ice
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wake — a trail
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. squash — to crush
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — to visit
  24. cap — a hat

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