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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: plane · cold · face · chip · branch · spring · track · tear

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. face — to confront
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. branch — a division
  12. track — a path
  13. chip — for betting
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. plane — a tool
  16. tear — to rip
  17. track — a song
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. face — to point toward
  24. track — to keep track

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