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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · bank · prune · land · date · cold · face · present

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. face — to confront
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bank — for money
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bank — of a river
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. bank — for money
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. face — part of the head
  17. present — the time now
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — an illness
  20. land — a country
  21. date — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. face — to point toward

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