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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 116 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: bear · march · face · cold · branch · present · press · wind

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. present — there
  4. march — music
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — the animal
  7. present — the time now
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — an illness
  10. march — the month
  11. branch — a division
  12. face — to confront
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. face — part of the head
  16. press — newspapers
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. press — to push
  21. march — the month
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cold — not warm
  24. present — a gift

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