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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.

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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: cabinet · sharp · branch · face · wind · arm · patient · tear

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. face — to confront
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. branch — a division
  6. tear — to rip
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. face — part of the head
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. wind — moving air
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. tear — from crying
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. tear — from crying
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. wind — moving air
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. face — to point toward
  24. arm — part of the body

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