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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: branch · shower · ball · bass · wind · face · wake · lean

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. face — part of the head
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. ball — a great time
  6. branch — a division
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. shower — rain
  15. face — to point toward
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. face — to confront
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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