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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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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 · face · wind · arm · mate · club · root · land

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. face — to confront
  3. wind — moving air
  4. club — for dancing
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. branch — a division
  8. mate — to breed
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. mate — a friend
  11. club — a group
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. root — of a word
  17. face — part of the head
  18. mate — a partner
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. root — of a plant
  21. land — to come down
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. root — the cause

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