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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: snap · face · spring · craft · cold · rule · branch · arm

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. craft — a skill
  3. spring — the season
  4. craft — boats
  5. spring — a coil
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. spring — of water
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to point toward
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. rule — a law
  19. snap — to click
  20. rule — government
  21. cold — an illness
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  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