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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
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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: rock · cold · branch · face · key · charge · clip · file

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. charge — a price
  3. face — to confront
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. rock — a stone
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a line of people
  8. face — part of the head
  9. charge — in control
  10. cold — not warm
  11. key — the most important part
  12. clip — to cut
  13. charge — electricity
  14. file — a document
  15. rock — music
  16. file — a tool
  17. key — in music
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. key — for a lock
  20. face — to point toward
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — a division
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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