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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 · cap · roll · race · march · content

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wind — moving air
  3. face — part of the head
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. roll — a list
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. march — the month
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — a lid
  11. march — music
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. race — a contest
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. race — humankind
  18. cap — of ice
  19. roll — a cake
  20. face — to confront
  21. branch — a division
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  24. march — the month

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